


I am here my Bruaza

by BlackDragon41



Category: Osomatsu-san
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Apocalypse, Awkward Brother bonding, Baseball, Bleh, Blood, Bromance, Brotherly Bonding, Bruzah!, Evilmatsu split into six, Family, Feels, Fire, Gen, Gore, Heart-to-Heart, Heartache, Ichimatsu POV, Ichimatsu being a dick, Ichimatsu centric, Ichimatsu is a poor emotionally withdrawn man that deserves love and attention, It happens, Jyushimatsu being a biscut, Jyushimatsu centric, KARA BEING THE BEST BROTHER, Kara abuse, Karamatsu centric, Karamatsu is the best brother, Karamatsu pov, Karamatsu reaching out for Ichimatsu, Language, Mentions of Death, No Incest, Osomatsu being a dick, Sad Jyushimatsu(not for long), Self Confidence Issues, Self-Loathing, Self-Sacrifice, Seperation, Somewhat tragic, Survival, The feels, The six faces of the Apocalypse, Typical Osomatsu-san themes and violence and ect, Violence, brothers being brothers, hopeful, serious shit, somewhat dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7587817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackDragon41/pseuds/BlackDragon41
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karamatsu and Ichimatsu-centric, follow along as they search for their brothers and find a way to bring an end to the apocalypse. THE SIX FACES OF THE APOCOLYPSE!</p><p>Chapter 6: Can't let go</p><p>Karamatsu blinked before moving his gaze down to the ground, it had hit him; a realization that he wanted so much to deny but always clung to the possibility with guilt that was long buried now resurfacing. "Then it's confirmed, it's my fault after all." He whispered. "I tried to help you confess to your love and-"He was cut off when Ichi reached down and grabbed him by his tank and hauled him to his feet roughly.</p><p>"You can't ever shut the hell up can you Shittymatsu?" He said with a scowl. "If you think that you're the only one to blame for that then you're wrong!" The fourth born shouted in a whisper and then felt his hold faltering, moving too roughly and too quickly made the stick in his side shift painfully; he clamped his mouth shut and winced while struggling to maintain his composure. "You- you don't know anything but you think you do." He grumbled to himself and squeezed the fabric more tightly until his knuckles turned white. "Why don't you fight back eh? Why don't you give me another reason to hate you more?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where do we go from here?

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is mostly Ichimatsu's POV, ... sorry if this story doesn't meet expectations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ichimatsu's pov, I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your expectations.
> 
> [UPDATE] Also, I'm working on the story book cover, here's the rough draft of it, it will soon be colored and finished but I hope it's okay just as it is for now. (will update it when complete.) I might also do small comic versions of some scenes and post them as I update too.

"See, this is exactly why we can't every win at anything." Choromatsu shrugged lightly, "Our desire to win and... lack of patience... mentality and talent-" He eyed his brothers as they walked down the street, none of them seemed to pay him much mind but were clearly listening seeing as their sour moods was displayed quite well on all of their faces; except for Jyushimatsu's of course. "With lack of rational thought... and strength as a group" He started with a more quiet tone. "We just fail, cheating never wins as the saying goes. It certainty doesn't help that we can't be anything but failures, even when cheating."

Ichimatsu rolled his eyes, here he goes; Choro and his need to rant about everything. Mostly about failure, incompetence, and plain uselessness of them all. Same old same old. The fourth of the sextuplets lightly sighed and buried his hands in his hoodie pocket. What a pain.

Osomatsu frowned more deeply and he walked with his arms cradling the back of his head, his glare landed on the third sextuplet. "Oh and you're the one to talk? You were right there with us in all of that 'elaborate' scheme and terrible play, 'you' were desperate for the win too Chorofappymatsu." He spat arrogantly. "Guilty like the rest of us know-it-all, cheated all the way to the top." He managed to grin some when Choromatsu briefly returned the glare then frowned deeply with his shoulders falling.

"Ehhh, you're right." He admitted with a downcast tone. "I too was desperate for that prize, I was willing to sink low as to cheat too. But!- The other team cheated too!" He suddenly said aloud when he realized it.

"Uh duh, we had from the start of 89th tourney 'and' had made it to the end with 'other' cheaters; because that's how people who are good at cheating win. I mean none of us can shoot lasers from our eyes, they were just better at cheating; figures, we weren't meant to win from the start. The invitational was a waste, we quit for nothing Choromatsu." Todo retorted flatly.

"Ah, I see your point. Besides, I was never good at sports to begin with." He looked over to his right to see Jyushi with a huge smile on his face and a pep to his steps. "At least Jyushi got what he wanted all along, even if it's just something as simple as paying some baseball games."

"I got to swing swing!" The fifth sextuplet laughed loudly and made some pretty dangerous swinging motions with his hands and arms as if he was still holding a baseball bat and trying to hit a ball; Todomatsu and Karamatsu on the sides of him instantly recoiled away and gave their smiling brother space all while trying to avoid him from hitting them. "Lets play more baseball!"

"Oh please, enough with it. I'm going to be sore for weeks; no more for me ever." Todomatsu droned as he took a glance at his cellphone for any messages he may have missed, he was about as tired as everyone else and didn't want to think about any sport of any kind right now. He was busy texting his old employer to see if he can't get his job back at the Café where he can be with his friends again and work towards something worthwhile like a car... and maybe some pachinko money on the side.

"Ah yes brother," Karamatsu started with a soft but weary smile, he almost got hit in the chest and knowing what damage the boy could do was indeed quite frightening. "At least you had your fun, we are happy for you but lets wait a while before we play anymore games; your elder brothers need a little time to rest."  
It took about ten long seconds for a reply.

"O K!" He Jyushi shouted at the top of his lungs while bringing his covered hand up to his forehead with a sloppy salute. "Maybe later."

"Yes Jushimats- perhaps later my dear brother." Karamatsu said with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face, he still looked tired but showed a small smile to comfort his younger sibling.

Ichimatsu adverted his eyes from his painful brother, at least he could let down on Jyushi better than the others. He's still shitty though, always acting and never being real with the way he talks. Ehhh... so annoying. He often wondered if Shittymatsu was faking it just for positive feedback and trying to be accepting by everyone for his 'kindness' and 'smooth talk'. Bleh, the guy tries so hard for attention, there's no telling what he'd do to get it. He should die already and stop trying so hard to please everyone and look cool. He's a NEET, a useless nobody like the rest of them. It sickens the fourth born to see him try and look outstanding and trying to outshine the rest with his fancy attire and disgusting talk. Unbelievable.

Ichi just wanted to get home and pet his cat while eating some of his mother's miso soup, he was done with crazy adventures with his idiot brothers. Especially with the shit he had already been through just recently, he was done with pretty much everything for a while. He just really wanted some alone time and a very long catnap. Yeah, that sounded good; he'd go home check his furry feline, eat, sleep some, then head out to the streets to avoid his brothers for a while. Perfect plan.  
Or so he thought.

"Mom and dad are going to be disappointed with us again huh?" Choro asked bitterly.

"Most definitely, but that is nothing new is it not?" Kara replied lightly.

"Yep, you guys are the worst." Osomatsu beamed.

Kara, Choro, Ichi, and Todo shot glares at him and shouted in unison.

"THAT INCLUDES YOU YOO DAMN IT!!"

Osomatsu recoiled some. "I was joking, sheesh."

'We're so useless.' Ichimatsu grumbled to himself.

...

...

"Is it going to rain today?" Jyushimatsu said with his wide smile as he looked up to the sky, everyone else looked up to see dark grey lining the atmosphere above but not really paying too much attention to the dark clouds gathering in the distance. There were also sounds of alarms from fire trucks and ambulances ringing out to the grey stained blue but the ringing sounds were no cause for worry seeing as they lived in a neighborhood of reckless drivers and reckless dolts that wasn't themselves. It was common in such a populated area.

"Probably, but we're almost home so we'll be fine." Osomatsu replied leisurely.

"Fine? Yeah, till we get struck by lightning."

Oso chuckled loudly at the third sextuplet. "Always the first to worry, hmm Fappyski; I think you overthink things way too much brother. Sometimes it's like your head just floats away." He pointed to the side of his head and tilted it a bit with a wink.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Choro chided irately. "Maybe there's an 'actual' reason why we are hearing those alarms, someone could have gotten struck, or a bolt scared a driver and they could have served right into another vehicle. It's no laughing matter. Besides, my head is clearly on my shoulders."

"Who said I was laughing, smiling doesn't count as laughing." The eldest defended with his trademark smirk. This made Choro lihtly seethe.

It's been a little over twenty years and nothing's changed about his eldest brother's playful nonsense? Predictable. Almost two more didn't change a thing. Ichimatsu was not impressed, everyone in the family had their continuous flaws but it seemed that the eldest was just plain annoying as always to those around him and wasn't going to change anytime soon; not that he should but being serious when it's necessary was pretty important. He was always looking ahead despite holding grudges, always trying to keep everything together as it should be... sometimes actually. So maybe that wasn't so much as a flaw, being the glue of the family gives him a strong supporting character; his own will to lead supports his own wellbeing and strong mentality to move onward through enduring trials. It's probably why he's full of optimism and confidence, arrogance too. He could say bullshit about people to their faces and not back down or give two shits with what they rely back with, he's so blunt and brutally honest; carefree all of the time while keeping the crumpled paper flattened out that was the Matsuno family, 'flat' enough to still be considered a useful sheet to write on. That was something Ichi lacked. Optimism, that carefree nature, being able to speak his mind and express himself freely, and being able to fight good. The fourth admitted to himself that he was jealous of those traits of his rock-headed brother. If it weren't for the fact that Jyushi was mentally broken and packed with immeasurable strength then Osomatsu would be the strongest and enduring of the group. Albeit an asshole but a pillar for leadership like he already establishes on a daily basis; a shitty leader though but he manages to work it out somehow, even in acts of mischief.

Choromatsu on the other hand, well he was weaker both physically and mentally, he wasn't as fragile as Todomatsu is in the physical aspect but he barely has a backbone. He's a coward and even selfish at times, he has to have everything right and on time and breaks down if he fails ... or complains to no end and points fingers to make himself the victim. His own smarts or intellect; if that is what they call it... was his strength, he is also somewhat clever and he does well with people. He can talk to complete strangers without issue and knows when he can't win a fight; but that doesn't mean that he's too much of a quitter depending on what his aim is. When he's focused on a task he's likely the only one of the group that can get it accomplished right and probably in a neat and organized way. That was something Ichi was jealous of Choro; his abilities to do things in the proper manner, his persistence, and his overall wit and smarts. He wished he was half as smart as his older brother.

Jyushimatsu was his favorite of his brothers; Ichi knows that his parents told him time and time again to not pick one over his other brothers but he didn't care. Not only was the fifth super strong, he was as caring as they come but not in the painful or feminine way like two of his other siblings. No one knows where Jyushi's power comes from but the bundle of sunshine can't be hindered by many words and hardly stopped by much force; he was an ox in a man's body; a friendly and yet comforting brother that could have been so much more. Ichimatsu looked forward and his eyes landed on the back of the fifth's born head, the guy moved fluidly and happily with his arms lightly swinging back and forth like there was not a damn thing in the world that could bring him down. Now he did have weaknesses like everyone else but his were of a different; but simple kind. Jyushimatsu was born with a condition that was probably a form of Autism or some other mental illness, their parents never said anything but it's kind of obvious by now. Jyushi has a hard time learning and is pretty much a kid in a man's body with some level of maturity hidden in that head of his; he's not completely incompetent and even had a job and lived on his own before the invitational and not to mention a girlfriend for a day or so. He can even talk normally at times and have a serious conversation when needed, he wasn't dumb; that would be a mistake. To misjudge him or underestimate him based off his outward appearance and goofy sense was foolish; he's not the smartest but he's almost average. Despite that being true, it is also true that simple things bring so much happiness to him. Even something as small and useless as an acorn brightens his day and keeps him going, plus he's easy to work with and has a level of understanding that doesn't take words to grasp. He's no genius but he is so likeable and often thoughtful.

Being naïve was his downfall as well as some emotions that involved attachment like family ties, he sometimes comprehends things and other times doesn't; or just doesn't show interest. However he can also be impatient and is easy to fool, he lacks focus at times. Ichimatsu doesn't like when others take advantage of his naïve and trustworthy nature; even if he taps into the fiendish manipulative act himself every now and again; but it's usually for worthy cause. Then there's the never ending energy that his younger brother lives off, sometimes there's no stopping Jyushi at all. It would be nice to have strength and energy like his and the simple joys; even simplistic things that bring happiness would have been better than Ichimatsu's everlasting bitterness and darker outlook of the world. Ignorance would have been blissful but he was cursed with knowledge of reality, knowledge of his low place in society, and the unwanted affinity for loneliness.

Todomatsu or now often titled 'Totty', the youngest of the brothers was actually quite the pain but easier to tolerate out of the more louder brothers, he is the most social of the group with Choro only second to him. He can talk to just about anybody and has little shame, he's almost as bad as Osomatsu in that field; being able to openly gossip and admit things aloud so long as it doesn't embarrass himself or tarnish his reputation that is. He's not the physical type though and concerns himself with trivial things like his looks or if his cellphone is charged up enough to last throughout the day, it's stupid really but a flaw is a flaw. Ichi didn't mind the overuse of the color pink or the guy's more feminine persona but underneath that small innocent smile was a clever and deceitful beast that would drop pretty damn low for his own benefit. Ichimatsu was almost jealous of that tidbit. The brat was spoiled, not by much but he did crave for the attention of his parents the most, and also his fellow employees. He uses facades of hurt or innocent smiles along with his 'forked' witty tounge to get what he wanted and he did it a lot, he continues to this day. Ripe and nice looking on the outside but plain rotten on the inside. Sometimes he seemed like he cared and other times he was just as cold and hard as Ichi was; often ignoring his siblings to send texts to his friends or occupy his boredom by surfing the web. It was a downfall, Totty's ridiculous shallow flaw; just one out of the obvious handful. Like his 'overly social' lifestyle; there is a phone almost always on him and a lot of times it was in his face it seemed. That's nothing much to be so jealous of, but the feline-loving brother had wished he was as socially acceptable as him. Maybe then he wouldn't be so lonely and pathetic and actually have friends that weren't alley cats or his brothers; that were barely friend-like. Such a personality would make getting a job easier, and he wouldn't have people shoot him with awkward glances as they pass by him on the streets like a stray cat or homeless guy; like he was.

But that was unlikely, he could only want a stronger bond with his brothers and be their friend; it's a shame they can't want the same as him or otherwise they would have told him by now. His cat at time of the ESP incident; revealed to them his innermost well-hidden feelings and they still disregarded him when the truth came out. Sure they gave comfort that night but the next day was the same as ever as was the following days, well at least not Jyushi but that's only because of his condition. He was still shit in all of their eyes.

Then there's Karamatsu, the most painful of them all; the second born and his least favorite. He's the one that should die first. As kids he wasn't so bad but when they got into high school to find their own identity Kara developed and brought home that overly cliché and painful persona. He was an embarrassment of the Matsuno name, the very embodiment of mental pain. He found a disgusting fashion sense and a love for shiny and glittery things, as well as becoming a wannabe badass gentleman that would have any woman fawn over him; heh, so he thinks. Just up and out of the blue he wanted to be cool and noticed and he stuck with it despite Ichi and the rest of the brother's dislike and disapproval of it; he was a publicly humiliating individual which made him a pain to be around or even considered a brother. But Karamatsu claimed that it was 'so' him and that he loved those nasty things he called 'dazzling' and 'dear' to him, gross. Ichimatsu couldn't place how or when he picked up the degrading and embarrassing act; he only knew that Kara liked it and would never leave him or anyone else alone about it. Not even in the most serious of times could his elder brother just be real and drop the act, drop the stupid deep tone and use of western words to impress ladies or sophisticated individuals in his need for attention. His affection for attention wasn't any better, it was so damn irritating. ... It was almost like punishment, to deal with it so often; punishment for all of them being NEETs living with him around. Unfortunately, the years didn't change him, Shittymatsu has become so accustom to the painful manner he lives by that he can't stop; not that he would want to anyway, he's tainted with embarrassment and spreads it to all of his brothers all of the time. How can anyone be so... so- annoying? Ichimatsu rolled his eyes and lightly tch'ed; avoiding even taking a glance at the second eldest.

Stupid Kosumatsu...

Unconsciously, his eyes roamed over to the second born and he looked away again with an agitated frown, even if he was a pain; he was still there. The damn idiot could have pursued his dreams as a singer and guitarist when things went to shit like when the family first split but he stuck around until Jyushi left. Actually he stayed for a quite the while when Jyushi moved out. He could have walked out of their lives completely and actually been something like the rest or better with loads of cash and millions of fans but he was still here, still in this dead-end town and happy as ever? Even after losing the Invitational 88th and 89th? What the hell is wrong with this guy? He's an idiot. Ichimatsu and Osomatsu didn't talk to him much when Choro and Todo left but he still stayed for a while and tried to get them to be a family despite the absence of the boys that graduated from NEET to human beings.

Why? What's the point?

 

To be more of a pain in the ass?

 

Whatever.

But despite his willingness to cling, annoy, the overuse of romanticism and badassituide, Ichimatsu; knowing how much it pains him to admit...knows that he's a little jealous of the idiot too. Yeah, even Shittymatsu; which did not help himself feel any better about himself. ... How could he possibly be jealous of his painful brother, one may wonder? Underneath the act and half-assed clothing was someone so overly confident and awkwardly; strong. Not strong as in muscle but mentally sound despite having little brains, someone with tolerance that exceeded all of the brothers. Kara was no intellectual genius nor deserving to fit into society, but he did have that mental block that prevented himself from being publicly humiliated or excessively angry at his family; typically when it came to himself being the embarrassment. It's like he didn't know that he himself was the public's 'pain'. He could strut around only in his glittery sapphire blue speedo all through town and still return home like he had every ounce of his dignity and that nothing that could phase his social life.

Ichimatsu shuddered at the thought. Why did he even think that?

Kara could also talk to 'Karamatsu girls' easily than the rest of the sextuplets and try to charm them; in what he calls a 'suave' way, yet he still has no girlfriend? Who's he kidding? Who would want someone like him anyways?

Thinking about that made him feel even more pitiful about himself, Shittymatsu wasn't the only one that was worth less than shit; this was perhaps the only thing the two had in common other than the love of pachinko and porn. Them and their title of useless NEETs, Osomatsu included since he's also jobless. Worthless trash wasting away on the streets, in the home of their parents and/or friend's house, leeching off their host's funds or the boot of humanity because they have nothing to contribute to society; no job and no real purpose but to consume time and space. Pathetic. ... Ah well, at least now they weren't the only ones going back by themselves seeing as everyone had agreed to go home and start again after throwing their jobs away; back to that old house of theirs to be the six NEETs once again. Ichi himself didn't mind going back home in what seems like forever that he last stepped in; at least there he'll be fed and have a warm place to stay instead of scrounging through trash cans and begging for coin. Jyushi plead for them to be a family again for a little while... and who could possibly say no to that? Not to Jyushi; no one would want to leave Jyushimatsu out and have him randomly show up at their place and have to deal with someone who barely understands what 'no' means. The guy is relentless. Literally.

Still, even terribly painful; Karamatsu is more caring than most of the brothers. It could be an act... at least to everyone but Jyushimatsu; the second oldest would put his neck on a limb for the fifth born, that's something that Todomatsu and Choromatsu wouldn't even consider without hesitation first. He was like a shoulder for his mentally deficient brother; which may be the only reason why Ichimatsu hasn't opted to killing Karamatsu off himself yet. He was somewhat... perhaps a little useful in that sense.

Ichimatsu had slowed his pace some and gazed at the ground absentmindedly in his saunter while lightly fidgeting with his fingers in the front pocket of his hoodie, his brothers kept talking but he zoned out and ignored everything they said. He knew he was going nowhere fast in his life but was okay with that for now; it's been that way for quite some time but he didn't mind. It was an easy life and somewhat a burdensome one too; having his parents cover for six grown men and living with his annoying brothers. But if anyone was a burden then it was him, he was a loser, a loner, a cat lover, a jobless lump on a log with no motivation to move forward, and just plain useless really. Actually, he should just die first and be done with it.

He knew he was no good but at least he would openly admit it unlike some of this other brothers who are just like trash as he was. Pretenders, quitters, and self-absorbed idiots would never amount to anything in life; which is probably why they were living a lie, the dumbasses that actually had jobs quit for a stupid cause. Even if it was somewhat for Jyushi and the family name, it wasn't worth it in the end; now no one had work and no income. Just what the family needed; trash back in the house. Useless trash like him. Once a NEET always a NEET it seemed, now they'll all be back under the same roof unless they decide to split again and live with other people they know and move onwards on their own.

It's bound to happen soon again enough... and he'll return back to the streets when that happens, he'll take care of his stray feline companions for a while and hopefully get hit by a car and die; his future is not step up but a step down. He realized this a long time ago, a year actually; that he would go nowhere in his life and be an affliction to society; like when he did leave and could not find a job and had to live in the alleyways. It would be better if he dies anyway; he'll break the sextuplet's curse and the five left would be complete and probably find success as the one of his brothers had said before.

Ehhh... maybe that is stretching it with the 'success' thing; still, he has nothing to contribute to the world but his rotting corpse to feed whatever creature; be it starving cats or worms. What a life he has to live for. Pity.

They made a turn onto the main street that lead them straight home. It wouldn't be such a long walk now, the futon was beckoning him and his sorry ass. Ichimatsu suppressed a yawn.

It was okay for him to insult himself, he never really cared what others thought of him; well maybe in the household when it comes to judging him amongst the rest of the trash heap. But other than that, he was about the lowest of the low; he took a little pride knowing that he wasn't the worst out of his stupid siblings. He didn't have to fake anything nor try and utterly fail, NEETS were nothing with no real purpose; just trash. Just wasting his life away was okay, he was being himself and content enough to live the way he does even if it was shitty; just as long as he had something to eat and a roof over his hea-

"Gah." The fourth born came to an abrupt stop when he smacked into one of the bodies of his brothers who apparently stopped and without warning, he was instantly greeted with a headache upon impact and now irritated as shit. "Hey, what the hell?" Ichimatsu groaned quietly while stroking his aching forehead with his eyebrows narrowed thinly. He glared at the back of Choro's head but the third born didn't turn to look at him.

"Aye!" He hissed but immediately went stiff when the smell of smoke flooded his nostrils. "What's going on?" He pulled himself from behind his brother only to notice that the rest of the boys had come to a complete stop too, they all had faces of worry and shock as they gawked onward. Annoyed but curious Ichimatsu turned to face down the street and his jaw dropped slightly. Eyes widened.

Before the boys; far down the streets was massive chaos, people running and screaming, houses, apartments, work offices and other businesses were up in flames and smoke clouds of black drifted everywhere. Far down that street was their home; mashed in the chaos of fire and smoke; burning like the rest of the town.

"A fi-f-fire?" Choro muttered quietly, he was visibly shaking but still soaking up the realization of what they were all seeing.

"Our house!" Osomatsu shouted out loudly and grabbed the sides of his head... "Our parents!" He cracked louder.

There was a long moment of silence before Jyushi broke the silence with a scream; his everlasting smile was gone, and in an instant bolted down the road with tears in his eyes. "MOMMY!"

"Shit! Everything is on fire!" Osomatsu cursed with fright and concern in his eyes and ran for the house. Karamatsu followed while calling for Jyushi.

Choro didn't say anything; speechless by the hazard of fire and loss of their home and likely their parents, then there was Jyushimatsu running right to it. He then dashed forward calling for Jyushi too who was running on the road with cars coming at them to escape the spreading flame. The sounds of tires screeching added to the cries of people and collapsing burning debris, alarms sounded off into the distance.

Todo followed behind shortly, pale from shock.

But Ichimatsu just stood there staring at the city up in flames, his home, his parents, his cat... it wasn't a moment sooner that he was already transformed into his partial cat form running on all fours towards home, he ran faster than he ever had before. His claws scrapped loudly against the concrete as he moved, the hair all over his body stood on end. His heart raced in his chest and pounded his ribcage for a moment of reprieve, his lungs shrank up with the sting of fumes and smoke vapors thinning his air.  
He managed to pass up Todomatsu who was the only one actually running safely on the sidewalk, then passed Choro who had to stop to catch a second to breathe, he was red in the face and gasping for air like he hadn't run in years. He then managed to catch up to Karamatsu and Osomatsu, the blue blur at his side caught the corner of his eye when an arm waved at him and a voice followed.

"Ichimatsu!" Kara's voice cried out. "You have to stop Jyushi, he'll run right into fire if we can't stop him brother!"

Like that wasn't obvious, but he was right. Jyushimatsu wouldn't know any better, the guy didn't even have hardly any fears and disregarded his own safety as well as others most of the time unbeknownst to him. The fifth born's strength may be great but he can't fight fire with muscle and hustle, he was too naïve for his own good but it's not like it was his fault. Ichi's frown deepened, he might just be able to catch up and stop his younger brother but at the same time, what about his parents and his cat?

Was it already too late?

He dreaded the very thought.

It was like running through hell, the flames spread fast from building to building and flaming debris fell everywhere; Ichi mewed loudly when a burning cable nearly collapsed on top of him. However; the loud thud at his side could not deter him from his target, his eyes refocused on the younger sibling of his and surprisingly Jyushi had stopped right at their home and stared at it when he arrived at the building up in flames.

Without warning Ichimatsu pounced at the fifth born when he dared to take one step towards their house, and as luck would have it; he got him and just before the younger brother would make a great mistake.

"Mommy, daddy!" Jyushi cried out loudly and placed one hand forward and dug his finger into the pavement before slowly dragging himself and his older brother towards the house. His eyes were waterlogged.

"Shit, stop this Jyushimatsu." Ichi plead now out of his partial cat form and trying to sooth his stressed brother while rubbing his chin; doing so used to always calm the guy but now it wasn't doing much of anything and Ichi couldn't blame him.

"Jyushimatsu!"

"Jyushimatsu!"

Both Karamatsu and Osomatsu had caught up and then dog piled onto their brothers, this actually slowed Jyushi but it wasn't quite enough until Choro finally managed to reach them and topple on top while heaving for breath like he was having a slight panic attack. Todomatsu arrived shortly after but was too stunned by watching their house burn that he couldn't do anything but stare with tears flooding down his cheeks.

"Our ho-home, our mom and d-dad." Choro nearly choked, fluid ran down from his nostrils and down the sides of his eyes. "W-why?" He sputtered quietly as the fire danced on the wood as if it was mocking them.

"How did this happen? Gahhh!" Todo gasped in fright and turned to his side when a piece of burning wood fell close by him. "Why is our whole town on fire?!"

Most of the boys were looking around to see their birthplace up in smoke, fire burned everything around them. How it happened was a bit of a mystery but it wouldn't matter now, not when they just lost everything they've ever known.

"They're gone." Came Karamatsu's surprisingly calm tone, it was soft but also drenched with immense pain. He was of course referring to his parents, the cat, and the one place that held so much memory. A few sniffles came out afterwards and he wiped the back of his hand across his eyes so it was clear he was crying like the rest of them.

Everyone was crying, either with loud sobs like Jyushimatsu or quietly sniveling like Ichimatsu; or maybe something in between the lines of wailing in pain. They thought they were going to return home to begin again as a family, only to go back to nothing; the place they so often took for granted. To parents they took for granted; now resting in smoldering ashes.

They stayed there and gazed emptily for awhile, barely noticing one of their brothers slipping away from them and walking away.

Wood crackled, flames wicked up and away into the late evening sky. The sounding of alarms was all but gone now; like the remaining civilians of the town had fully evacuated and abandoned their hopes of saving even a piece of their town.

...

"We have to go." Came out a stern and silent tone, the voice obviously belonged to Osomatsu.

Choro, Ichi, Kara, and Todo looked back behind them to see Osomatsu a few feet away with his back to them. A loud crash nearby had all of the boys except Jyushi immediately on their feet and looking off to their right to see a burning structure down the road that was now blocking one way out, more debris around them also tumbled to the pavement with loud thuds and singeing ashes whirling around them and then up into the sky. It was clearly becoming too dangerous to stick around, but the brothers were so lost in sorrow that they almost forgot about their current situation. The heavy smoke went ignored for so long, they would suffocate or choke if they didn't leave soon. This became clear when Todomatsu began coughing loudly from smoke inhalation.

"Let's get out of here while we still can!" Osomatsu spun to face his brothers and pointed down the street towards the more rural part of their region. Though his brothers only stared at him for a long minute. "Are you guys deft?!" He shouted and stamped his foot.

"But, it's all we have." Choro managed to shout back before coughing a bit, the taste of smoke and burning debris of all kinds was getting harder to withstand. "Everything is burning, and... and our parents are gone!"

There was a long moment of silence between the boys before Oso broke it with clenching fists and a loud growl. "But it's all 'WE' have?" He said too quietly for anyone but himself to hear.

Ichimatsu sensed that Choro struck a nerve with the first born, he didn't have to see them but rather know his brothers despite not living with them or around them for two years. Plus he could sense the auras of his brothers, they're hardly forgettable. Osomatsu hid the every-day pain when Choro first left, like Ichi himself did on a regular basis when he didn't want to show how much he felt about being lonely; the older brother became like him in a way. When all but them two were left at the house he could see Osomatsu falling apart quietly, especially because Choro didn't come back at all that year except for the 88th Baseball tournament. Before he left Osomatsu told him that without each other it was like he didn't have brothers; it only took the loss of one to have him become a sorry excuse of a brother, a sunken piece of shit that wasn't himself. Todo leaving made it worse, then Jyushi took whatever light the oldest had and he started to ignore Ichimatsu and his parents. Kara leaving wasn't too much of a difference, Oso had become too withdrawn by then, it's why the second born left; thinking that it would be for the better. Which surprisingly, it wasn't. That is why Ichimatsu himself had to leave, he couldn't stand to see what lower than dirt shit Oso had become; besides his advice provided no help for his elder so what would be the point to hang around and watch his older sibling become so much like him.

It was quite sickening to say the least.

The invitational was the only hope that Osomatsu had to reunite the family, the first attempt was a complete failure but the second; along with a hell of a good coach started to bring them back together for a better cause. Even if the practices were only twice a week for half a year; they were all seeing each other again little by little and it seemed like at the time that nothing had ever come in between them.

Almost as if the brothers had never left home.

It felt... normal.

This was their only chance of being family again, now it was up in smoke and Osomatsu was losing it by an old grudge of his coming up at a terrible time. Rationality was probably out the window by now.

Osomatsu trudged up to the third born and grabbed his shoulders roughly; digging his nails into the fabric, he was visibly shaking but tried so hard to look calm despite the fact that he was quickly losing his cool. "And to think that you are the rational one? Get a hold of yourself Chorofappyski! If we stay here then we die!" He shook his brother and Choro's eyes widened. "Don't you get it?! WE won't have each other if WE don't get our asses out of here! Do you think mom and dad would want this?! Oh, ..." There was a long pause, his tone changed. "T-that's right!" He released his hold when he pushed his brother backwards some, he did this unconsciously. "Wake up! You were the one who first left the nest remember? You should know that this place barely had any meaning to you anyways so don't say that you have the right to call this a home and that it was all WE had, that's why you wouldn't ever visit! It's why you left and turned your back on all of us!"

"Osomatsu-nii san-." Choro said quietly, yet still shocked.

Osomatsu narrowed his eyes until they were shut and swung his head back and forth. "Well wasn't that? Wasn't that the reason?!" He barked louder and glared brightly with the fire's reflection in his eyes, he shouted loud enough with much anger to even catch Jyushi's attention. "When you left so did everyone else... and did you or any of you-" He pointed to each and everyone of his five brothers. "Ever decided to come back and say a mere hello?! Did you even care about mom and dad?! You didn't have to give a shit about me... but it's so unfair to never stop by and say a mere hello!"

Todomatsu looked away. "I'm sorry, it's just-." He couldn't finish, his old family home and life with his brothers ... well it was an embarrassment no matter how much he loved them. He wanted so much to visit but could never bring himself to do so, life on his own was nice for awhile and he built up a good reputation but still; he always had a feeling the Osomatsu would resent him for leaving and he never wanted to face his brother but now it was unavoidable. He hoped so much that this topic wouldn't come up but he had a small feeling that it would eventually; now however, was not the time. A spark had been lit in the eldest's heart and the fire was growing like the flames around them.

"Hey, I stopped and visited you guys often!" Karamatsu protested but he went ignored as usual.

"I'm sorry Osomatsu, I've been meaning too!" Choro tried to defend, his defense was failing in the eyes of his brother.

"Hey, I came and visited you and mom and Dad every other week or so!" Karamatsu threw in his own bit but still went ignored. "Really guys!" he said with much agitation.

"Then why didn't you? Why does it take a few stupid games of baseball to get you motivated to come and be with us when your brothers wanted to see you!" He choked out now tearing up, held back his shaking fist that so wanted to sock his younger brother in the face. "I knew you leaving would tear the family apart, damn it! That's why I didn't want you to leave! Even missing one... taking a piece of the tower away makes it crumble. It would never be the same, but even then... I missed you and you wouldn't come back!"

Choromatsu couldn't hold back the tears, more flooded down his face when he realized what Osomatsu was saying.

"I know it was selfish of me to want you to stay, but you didn't have to go away and live in your own little world far from us; I wasn't ready to say goodbye and then you just up and leave and walk right out of our lives! Do WE even mean a thing to you? 'WE' were NEVER one of six!" He quieted down some and fought back the tears, although they ended up falling after a few sniffles. "Now I look like a damn crybaby." He seethed to himself and wiped the droplets from his eyes.

It didn't take another word, Choromatsu ran and hugged his older brother tightly and Osomatsu didn't push him away like Ichi thought he would.

"I'm sorry." The younger said more quietly. "I didn't mean to be so distant, I thought that you didn't want me around. It's why I acted so bitter because that's how you treated me when I was leaving, I thought that you hated me for going on alone. I was ready to and I meant to leave a written letter as to why I was leaving, I just didn't give it to you guys in time and I'm so sorry! Actually, I should have just told you in person. I stayed away because I was ashamed to come back, ashamed to have left on such a bad note, plus by the time I wanted to come back almost everyone had gone their separate ways. I meant to again after the first year and baseball tourney but I got promoted and started working more often and then began drinking everyday after getting home because I was terrible to all of you. I wrote letters to mom and dad but I never did to you Osomatsu-nii-san. I did care about you and mom and dad and I did mean it when i said 'we', even if I don't own the right to say so because 'we' are brothers. Please forgive me, all of you!" He cried out loud and all of his brothers except one came around them to join the hug, Jyushi being the only one not in the embrace.

"I'm sorry too!" Todomatsu admitted aloud with his arms wrapped around both Oso and Choro. "I wanted to come back and see you guys but I was too cowardly, I thought too much about my reputation and status with my normal friends and not of you guys or our mother and father. Forgive me!"

Karamatsu enfolded one of his hands on Todo's shoulder and his other hand around Ichimatsu's and squeezed tightly, he was lightly surprised when Ichi sent him a soft glare but returned the grasp with a light nod. Kara almost wanted to cry more seeing as finding fourth born on the streets was very difficult so he saw him the least out of his brothers; the one most distant now embracing in his own way. "Forgive me my bruzahzs! I may have visited but I never even once asked how you were doing away from our family; I didn't know the pain you were all suffering. I could have done something to bring us all back together but I didn't try hard enough, I was nothing but a pain!"

"Forget how shitty I was too," Ichimatsu said rather quietly with his free hand on Osomatsu's back. "I only watched you go and didn't do anything to keep in touch with any of you, I lived in the alleyways and saw you guys many times but I didn't even step out to say hi; in fact I hid myself. I didn't even go back to say anything to our parents. I'm worthless shit. Sorry."

Jyushi suddenly latched on and tightly squeezed them which made all of the guys wince and wail. He seemed too upset to say anything but easily expressed how he felt.

"Jyus-sh-shi... you... c-can let g-go." Osomatsu managed through the brother sandwich seeing as he was squeezed on all sides.

Ichi groaned in annoyance. Flames were still dancing around them and getting bigger by the minute.

Now was seriously not the time.

After a long moment the brothers pulled apart and wiped away the remains of their sorrows on their sleeves; or for the most part anyways. Osomatsu grumbled to himself about something but he seemed to be a little more level-headed now and finally aware of what danger they were still in, he perked back up like the leader he was and rubbed a finger under his nose like he was back to his usual old self. About time. "That'll do." He said rather happily and everyone gaped as if he had been pretending although it was clear that he hadn't with his face still puffy from his fit. What a 360 that was. "I accept your apologies, now let's say we get the hell out of here ladies."  
Everyone just stared blankly and nodded. They knew that Osomatsu accepted but would probably rant on about it later and make himself the victim, he just had to win at everything. They looked more like crybabies than he did, they'll be hearing this for a while.

He won.

Clever bastard.

Ichimatsu sighed deeply. "Well now that everyone got their demons out of their system, ... where do we go from here?"


	2. Darkmatsu Alert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karamatsu POV, *snaps fingers* Prepare for Literary art!

'How could this have happened?' Karamatsu thought quietly to himself as he stared off into the horizon and watched his beloved home town burn brightly under the late evening sky, the smoke obscured much of the stars and tinted the sunset with a dark haze. It was an awful sight, nothing like the beautiful and inspiring sunsets he would sometimes watch from the comfort of his roof when he practiced his singing and playing his guitar under the dim starry veil and in the presence of a bright orb. His heart hurt from watching the blazes continuing to consume every last bit of their birthplace, but nothing at the moment could hurt him more than knowing that the parents of his and his dear brothers were gone. All they had left was memories and though some may have not been fond ones; they were still cherished and provided a lesson of some sort... or were at least fond to someone. So many years, adventures, shenanigans, and memorable times as kids, teens, and even as adults; all left to be carried by the hearts of the sextuplets. It was that place; their home where they became their own individuals and showed that even if they all had the same faces they were still different in their own way. It was the one place that connected them all together. Such legacy of the Matsuno home... it continues on even without a roof.

The second eldest pulled himself out of his leaning position from a tree and sighed; he took another glance around him to find himself completely surrounded by forestry.

They were far from home and out in the hilly countryside... uncharted territory.

He turned his head enough to see his brothers not too far from him; all of them but him were sulking to themselves or trying to adjust to unknown surroundings. His eyes first land on Choromatsu who happened to be sitting on his knees while trying to start a fire with two sticks; sort of like how characters in a cartoon would try to; he was twiddling one on top of the other but failing to get anything out of his efforts, that was something neither of the boys had done before so he didn't expect a nice and cozy fire tonight. But despite that he held onto the hope that Choro would get one started eventually, the third born can be quite persistent and he probably had more knowledge about how to make one than anyone of them; even if fire-starting was a task way out of his comfort zone apparently pretty difficult to do. But who knows? Maybe he can start one now, that would be nice in the chilling nighttime temperatures.

He eyes then landed on Todomatsu who happened to be furiously tapping at his smartphone while sitting in front of a few large shrubs; the light from his device illuminated his face and gave it a pale glow as well to the leaves of the bushes, his facial features that usually comprised of soft comforting joy and interest was now twisted to one of dread and worry. Karamatsu honestly felt bad for the youngest, being this far away from civilization and having to go through the dark of the night was a lot on the guy's shoulders. He knew of Todomatsu's fear of the dark and he used to always ask for Choromatsu or him to accompany him to the bathroom because he never got over that fear when he was a child, that one night that young Totty accidently bumped into a bucket and mop in the hallway. The boy freaked out and screamed loud enough for the whole house to hear, the mop handle had fell on him and the bucket of dirty water had spilt and soaked through his clothes when he hit the floor. At first everyone thought that it was funny but Kara knew after a small laugh that there was sheer terror in the youngest boy's eyes. Todo later told him that he had been having nightmares and the incident with the mop reminded him of a terrible dream that still haunts him to this day, plus the dark itself was a shroud for the evils within; the boy had been scarred that night and has since been afraid of the dark. But if he feared anything then it would be in the unknown, that which lurked where his eyes could not see; even the slightest of sounds would put him on high alert and give him the shakes. Sure he was a grown man now but the night's thick blanket and being alone always brought discomfort to him, it was a major weakness of his. However; as long as they all stuck together than Todomatsu had nothing to fear. Karamatsu lightly beamed for a brief moment; he was going to have assure his younger brother that everything was going to be okay and help him get through this tough time be it night or day.

A blur of yellow caught his gaze, a bright yellow blur that ran through the trees and laughed rather loudly. Jyushimatsu had his hands failing in the air as he cheerfully ran around his new playground, it was sort of like an adventure for the most daring seeing as he wasn't moved by the possibilities of dangerous wildlife or hazardous obstacles that he probably couldn't see very well. 'Ah, brave and fearless brother.' Karamatsu grinned, his smile fell some when Jyushi ran right through the bushes that Todomatsu just happened to be sitting in front of and the abrupt wave of the moving shrubs had the youngest going wide-eyed. He had screamed aloud when some of the limbs raked across his shoulders, almost as if the plant came alive and reached out as if it was trying to grab him. Totty in a serious panic had crawled away quickly towards Choromatsu; the one who he seemed to favor more of the brothers, with his eyes still on the shrubbery he bumped right into the third born and sent him to the ground with an 'oof'. Karamatsu would have laughed had this been a normal night outing with his family, but this was no typical bonding time; though precious be all the memories he makes with his brothers. Jyushi continued to scamper around and even climbed up into a tree just to crawl back down it like a lizard and onto a lower limb, he then grabbed the branch and swung back in forth with his hands barely clinging to the wood like a monkey. He was having so much fun, fun that preoccupied the enigma that was his mind. The elder brother knew that Jyushimatsu had a breakdown back at the burning house, it took something as an intense but heartfelt brotherly argument to capture his attention. But even hugging it out and apologizing it wasn't enough, the fifth born didn't act so much out of what was his typical 'norm'; but he wasn't his usual self earlier. He was very quiet as the left their old community, he didn't smile either and remained silent for most of their walk out here; Kara tried to comfort him but his soft words only made Jyushimatsu cry and sulk. He managed to console his brother enough to earn a small sad smile from him as well as a light embrace but alas, it was short-lived. He only came back to himself after another argument, a loud and intense one that made Karamatsu fret for the sake of his brothers sticking together. Despite the fierce exchange of harsh words; Jyushi calmed down and Ichimatsu had something to do with it, the two tailed behind and they talked but not loud enough for anyone but themselves to hear. 

Ichimatsu wasn't the one to normally comfort another so seeing that was absolutely amazing, the beast of darkness has a golden heart! Ichimatsu hauled his little sunshine of a brother from the depths of darkness and despair and brought him back up into the sky where the younger can shine and live on freely with no pain; to take the open vastness and embrace it with all that he was. Such joy he now had, it was enlightening and moving! Oh Jyushimatsu truly deserves to be free from the cruel pangs of reality! A heart and mind so free-spirited and innocent!

Choromatsu, Osomatsu, Todomatsu, and Ichimatsu had all supported Jyushi in his time of need; of course that was after the fight and after he first attempted to calm the sorrow-filled soul. Ichimatsu made him feel better first, then the rest reassured him. They each took short turns to talk to the poor guy, each with their own words and understanding nature for their dear brother; making sure that what they said was in a genuine way and comforting to say the least.

Oh how Karamatsu was jealous of the compassionate attention his brother got from the others; that he could not deny, but it didn't matter and it wasn't even in a negative way! Just seeing his bruazas console Jyushimatsu was enough to make him feel proud and very fortunate to be one of six! To be a part of the best six brothers in all existence.

With his heartstrings tugged and tears threatening to fall again, Karamatsu quickly turned away from his siblings and planted one hand on the tree for support with his other clenched in a 'victory-like' pose. A large smile spread across his face and he kept his orbs concealed behind his eyelids to hold back the droplets forming, he took deep quiet breaths to let the energy pent up out in a non-distracting manner. 'How is it that 'I' have such a wonderful and amazing family?!' He wondered and let himself slowly come down from the high of the feeling proud and divinely blessed, truly someone like him didn't deserve his brother's nor the presence of their greatness! Tis a wonderful feeling it was to be one of six despite the tragedy that had befallen all of them this day.

His smile fell and he opened his eyes when Osomatsu caught his attention with a few hard kicks to the base of a tree close by, he seemed to be in his own little world; probably trying to think of what they were going to do or where they were going to next. Karamatsu had no doubt that the eldest would come up with something and pull them through this tough time, it's what he always did; kicking a tree was the start of a good ponder and Osomatsu always had a little self-distracting time before he would come up with a miraculous plan. It would take just a little time, hopefully. It was his idea to come all the way out here; which wasn't bad. They were all far from the fire so if it spreads towards them then they would have plenty of time to retreat to some other place; the location was also close to the town's farmland limits, this meant that they could at least scavenge around and find something to eat in the morning before leaving. Staying within the town limits would have been risky and that's what Todomatsu and Ichimatsu wanted to do; Todo because it was the only place he'd have any cellphone service and Ichi because that's were all of the cats he had known were at. It was hard to get either of them to leave but Oso being the eldest and self-appointed leader; had told them to either stay and burn or get their asses as far away from town as they could get. Totty was more easier to convince, and Ichimatsu... not so much. Ichi opted to stay behind and search for some of the cats he befriended over the years but Jyushi didn't want him to be left behind, Ichi always had a soft spot for their dear 'ever-happy' brother and came along despite his desire to save any cats.

'Ichimatsu.' That's who his gaze had landed on next, Karamatsu's smile was completely flat now. Ichimatsu was sitting on the ground with his legs tucked tightly against his chest, in one of his hands were a small green cat toy; one that he used to always play with his best friend. His eyes were lackluster in light and life with them fixed on the grass around his heels and the toy he fidgeted in his hand like he was playing with an actual cat. Sadly, but a vacant stare came from the younger brother, vacant of the barely expressed joy he had when he spent time with his feline friends. His face as deadpan as it comes; dull with lack of interest like he didn't care at all from what happened today. Kara knew that though Ichi was frowning like he normally does that there was great pain hidden behind it, there had to be. He was already distraught with the lost of their home and parents; even more so with the loss of his beloved feline companion that lived at the Matsuno residence. To leave more behind to die, well it was absolutely against his nature and he was willing to risk his life to save a few strays; these animals had been his living companions for nearly two years when he decided to leave and become a homeless wonderer. To him they may have well be considered family, he had every right to want to save them and Karamatsu understood that and even defended his cause. Family is family after all, not just by the blood in one's veins but the closeness of one's heart to another. He could almost recall the scene like a dramatic play with a possible heartrending show stopping ending with two brothers going their separate ways after a heated argument. It could have ended tragically if it weren't for Jyushi.

...

"They're just cats Ichi."

"You know nothing Osomatsu." Came a quiet voice.

Osomatsu put his foot down and coiled his fingers into fists. "Just let them go, we don't have time; the fire will be up on us soon so we need to get the hell out of here like now! Cats are not family, we're your family!" He protested and jabbed the back of his thumb against himself; with everyone but Ichimatsu behind him.

In an instant his eyes were hidden and his voice was almost venomous, there was a dark aura about him and all of his brothers were at unease. "I already lost one, you don't know them like I do." He started quietly but slowly began raising his voice with each word to add to the rage growing within. "You don't know what they mean to me, so don't think you can tell me to leave when I have every right to stay! It's my life! Not yours, so back the fuck off!" Ichimatsu defended with a growl and tilted his head back some to display his mood, his facial features matched that of strong irritation; his eyes were shaded and eyebrows narrowed with the fire licking the air several yards behind. 

"We know why you befriend those cats but it's time to get real, they're nothing like 'real' people. They're not us and they sure won't live as near as long as we do, don't pick them over us just because they're easier to understand. You're 'our' brother."

Ichimatsu sneered deeply with his hands balled up and shaking.

That was when Karamatsu intervened, he came between the two as the mediator he was used to being with the whole bunch; he turned to the eldest. "As much as it pains me to say this, we should let him go if he wants; family is not only about blood brother, it's about heart. This is clearly important to him and he's old enough to make his own decision, besides; I have faith in my all of my brothers so-"

"Ow, so painful!" Osomatsu complained. " Just why the hell are you supporting this anyway?!" he barked, interrupting the second born who cringed from the loud unexpected shout and accusing finger pointing directly at him. Osomatsu proceeded to grab Kara by the collar of his hoodie and glared daggers right into his eyes. "Out of all of us I thought you'd understand the most, he'll get himself killed out there and you know it! The fucking buildings are collapsing and a few cats aren't worth his life! We already lost mom and dad, we sure as hell don't want to lose him too!"

"My life is already worthless. What is there to lose?"

Karamatsu tilted his head back from such a bitter reply to see Ichimatsu looking less angry and more like disappointed but not in anything in particular except at himself, for once; Ichimatsu was easily readable. It pained him to hear such nonsense, all of his brothers were worth more than every star in the universe. Karamatsu forced a smile on his face and lightened his tone. "Ichi my bruaza don't say such things, you are-"

"Dying wouldn't change anything, at least if I try then I'll be able to do something with myself that is right for once. I never try to do things that are worthwhile because i am worthless, at least now I can... because I want to. ... Even if it is for cats."

"Ichimatsu." Choromatsu softly muttered the name from the sidelines, he displayed the very essence of concern on his face and his very tensed posture showed it too.

Everyone stared at their brother in the purple hoodie. He was known for not giving a shit about much or even trying to take his life in a single direction, he was the one to ignore the problems around him and live in them and not try to fix anything so that he wouldn't have to fail. 

If you don't try then you don't fail.

Without another word Ichimatsu turned back towards the burning scene before him and started walking away.

"Ichimatsu, wait!" Karamatsu extended a hand out but it was left hovering in the air, his younger brother ignored him.

"Don't... Just- ... Errrrr... Fine then." Osomatsu released Kara from his hold and crossed his arms before heading in the opposite direction with his brothers just watching in worry. Oso pocketed his hands and kept his back to them.

"Ichimatsu-nii-san!"

Then Jyushi shouted out Ichi's name aloud and chased after before tackling his brother to the pavement.

Minutes shortly passed before the two were up and heading back towards their brothers. Ichimatsu clearly looked more upset than before but what expression he showed faded rather quickly; as if he had shoved the pain back into himself and wore a mask to conceal it.

'Did he always do this?' Karamatsu thought. 'And what is about Ichimatsu and those cats?' He knew the younger loved the furry critters but what Osomatsu said was a little confusing. Would Ichi really pick cats over them? Why? And just why in the hell did he call himself worthless when he already told him that he was the worst one out of the brothers?!

Seriously, what the hell?

The argument was diffused and Jyushimatsu and Ichimatsu tailed behind quietly and talked for a while.

...

Osomatsu and Ichimatsu haven't talked to each other since then; that happened about two and a half hours ago. Karamatsu felt bad for his younger brother; just watching the fourth born earlier in his dispute to stay within the burning town after seeing a few homeless cats disappear into the alleyways of the streets showed that he genuinely cared. Well, even if it was for cats. Ichimatsu almost never expresses himself like this or cares for much so this was a lot to take in. He wanted to talk to his younger brother about it and tried but he was shrugged off and told to get the hell away from him, and to die; like usual.

Karamatsu sighed heavily, he wished Ichimatsu would just confide in him, all of his other brothers come to him at some point; not as often as they should seeing as he is the family's shoulder... and punching bag. But still, if there was anyone who avoided him like the plague then it was Ichi. Often at times he wonders whatever happened to Ichi to make him so distant from his brothers, or what it was that made Ichi detest him the most. 

Oh yeah, he was 'Painful'. ...right.

They were in ways; polar opposites, yin and yang one could say. Karamatsu was almost always loud, enthusiastic, optimistic, and charismatic, then there's confidence and his unique fashion sense; he's always out for attention and embracing the idea of his brothers all having the same face. Ichimatsu on the other hand was quiet, hardly changed into anything that would be even remotely 'extravagant', and hated to be around people in general; he didn't want to embrace anything but his cats, his porn magazines, and his alone time. He's hardly ever giddily happy, except for when drinking or visiting Tokoto. Their differences made it harder to talk to each other about problems or just hang around together like Choro often does with Oso or him and Jyushimatsu surprisingly since they were pretty different from each other too, or even Totty and Choro. Sitting around the kotatsu playing a few games or talking, spending time at the races or the pachinko machines, or drinking sake at Chibita's food stand was normal activities that he would participate in and actually enjoy with his brothers and even with him at scarce times. Even in their old shenanigans and everyday living, the same went with celebrations and time at the bathhouse helping to clean each other's backs before they departed home. Yet still, when it came to anything about his future or own concerns he'd shut everyone out and avoid the topic; but it's almost only when he refers to himself or something that may concern himself unless he's pissed off or wants space. 

Why did Ichi have to be so detached? So distant? What was it that robbed him of his loving little brother all those years ago before they graduated high school? Why did he become so cold and bitter? When did he start feeling like he was worthless? Was it because they were NEETs? No, it was before then. Was it something more that none of the brothers knew about? Something someone had said? Just... why? Karamatsu felt his shoulders sink a little. He should know his brothers better than anyone else but Ichimatsu was always the one he knew the least about.

Maybe one day he'd get his questions answered, but for now all he could do is offer the fourth his personal space like he always wants and hope for the best; at least then Ichi wouldn't distant himself further away from everyone. Looks like Jyushimatsu was the only shoulder for his dear fourth born brother, yet.

He was going to have to get closer one way or another and have a long talk. The guy sure needed a confidence boost and praise.

"Smoke... I smell smoke!" Choro's eyes widened and he nearly stopped in his efforts from the shock of seeing a thin trail of smoke come from the two sticks. "I've got it, I- I- almost got it!" 

"The smoke is coming from the burning rubble of our town idiot."

"No, this is different!" Choro ignored Oso's comment and continued to provide friction to the pieces of wood.

"Ahhhhhh...." All of the brothers awed in unison as they watched the nerdiest brother spin the stick more faster and harder to catch a flame.

Choromatsu twiddled the branches more roughly with determination and the expectation of success, he had this! And in that instant of his excitement in almost achieving what he spent nearly an hour doing; the one stick he held snapped under the pressure he had put on it in his vigor to create fire. His smile slowly dropped and he screamed aloud and fell into a slumped position, the stench of failure hung above his head with the light smell of smoke.

"Aww." Osomatsu crossed his arms and attempted to smile a little, he walked over to Choromatsu and planted a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "It's okay Cherrymatsu," Choro lifted up with an understanding and hopeful expression. "You tried and that is what cou- Ew." He halted his immediate thought and then lightly chuckled while waving his hand back in forth over the third born brother. "Gross, I smell failure and... burning flesh?" He thought awkwardly while placing his hand on his chin in wonder.

Choromatsu's lower lip stuck out and a few droplets of tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "That... would be the flesh of my hands." He said with his now red-tinted palms being held out before his brothers to see. "I'm done."

"Please don't quit!" Todomatsu plead and noticed that he now had the full attention of his brothers, he lightly shrugged while laughing quietly to himself while feigning a smile. "Don't because- I'm uh- getting- cold?" He said in the place of his fear of being in the dark, his cellphone didn't have much power left and there were no outlets to charge and no charger either.

"Cold?" Jyushi thought to himself for a long second and then out of nowhere shouted and started to rub his hands against his arms. "It's cold!"

"Oh now you realize that?" Todomatsu spouted with his hands on his hips.

"COLD COLD COLD COOOOLLLLLLDDDDD!" He shouted and tackled the nearest... unfortunate... Mastsuno brother; Choromatsu, he snaked his limbs over his fearful brother and coiled against his elder tightly in an instant. It was like a full body octopus hold.

"Why ...me!?" The one in green cried out as the younger tried to squeeze the life out of him to get warmer. "This is not how it works! I was the one who wanted the damn fire. I can try again! Someone, help ... me?" He managed to get one of his arms free and reach out towards Ichimatsu who happened to be closer than the rest of the brothers.

Ichi ignored the pained plea and stuffed the cat toy back into the large pocket of his hoodie, he then stood up and moved away to rest against a tree far from everybody else. He folded his legs up to his chest again and rested his chin on his kneecaps. "You brought it on yourself." Was all he said before moving his gaze elsewhere.

"Whoa, 'darkmatsu' alert." Oso said quietly before returning his attention to Choro and Jyushi. He smiled softly and shrugged. "Well, since we have no fire or futon let's just sleep here next to each other like we used to do but minus the cover; looks like Chorofappymatsu and Jyushimatsu is all tucked in." He grinned with his hands on his hips, just watching the third born struggle to breathe for a long few seconds. He then moved to sit on the ground before leveling himself with his brothers and using his arms to cradle the back of his head, he could hear Choro trying to speak but his voice was cracking by the death grip of his younger brother.

"Pl-pl-esss."

"I suppose there's no comforting sleep tonight, but at least we still have each other. Right? Just don't get up and leave without telling me though." Todo lied on the other side of Choromatsu and pulled his light pink hood over his eyes. "Good night."

Karamatsu kneeled down next to the youngest of the sextuplets although his gaze was still upon the only brother who wasn't in the Matsuno mass. He wanted so much for Ichimatsu to join them, but again he had to remind himself that he was still a little upset about earlier so no matter how much it pained him; he had to keep the distance. At least for tonight. He closed his eyes and grinned with his chest puffed out a bit like a superhero. "Good night my bruazas, if you have any problems- any at all then just let me; the one and only Karamatsu-assist-" He placed a hand on his chest and opened one of his eyes to see his brothers already off to a light snore. It always amazed him how quickly they could fall asleep. It wasn't a bother though, just as long as they were okay. He laid down and pocketed his hands to shield them from the nibbling cold creeping up on the woodlands.

Ichimatsu wasn't sleeping but watching the town melt away in the smoldering ashes.

...

...

...

"Get up!" Came a loud and irritated voice, it was deep and easily recognizable considering the tone wasn't one filled with the terror that should it should have painted. "I said get the hell up now or I'll kill you myself, that is if you aren't already dead! ... But if that is the case, then good riddance!"

A foot planted on the side of his cheek and it lightly rocked his head back and forth some, it didn't hurt too much but it wasn't pleasant either. Karamatsu's eyes pried open slowly, his head hurt like hell and his vision was surprisingly blurry, he could barely see the tints of mahogany and jade that made up the trees they slept under; but what he could mostly make of was smears of red, orange, yellow and black. Some of the colors moved fluidly like flames. He blinked and looked to the source that was on his face and saw that it was a foot wearing a scandal. He looked up more and saw a purplish figure hovering over, the family insignia and the color meant that it was- "Ichimatsu?" But what was he doing? And seriously, why did he suddenly feel sore all over and his head throbbing? He had a damn migraine and the side of his ribcage stung more as he grew more conscious.

"If you want to lay there and die then do so, but if not then I suggest you get your painful ass off of the ground and move."

"Move?" Karamatsu asked while turning belly down and lifting onto his hands and knees. "My head, it's killing me." He winced from touching the top of his cranium, he pulled his hand back down quickly after he felt warm fluid seeping from his hairline. "Blood?" He questioned quietly and then made a face of shock when he woke out of his dazed state. "Blood?!" He shouted and stared at his shaking hand before reaching back up to feel for the cause of crimson flow. A hand caught him before he could pat around.

"You better get out of that daze painfulmatsu, otherwise you're going to sit here and burn."

"Burn?" His eyes widened more and he glanced around to see fire and what looks like the shattered remains of burning trees around them; trees that appeared to have been blown apart by a bomb or something of the sort. "Gahhh! What the hell happened here?!" He kept looking around before he saw Jyushimatsu run from behind a burnt tree right towards them while screaming and flailing his arms about in panic. 

That panic fled from that face though and was instantly replaced with a large smile when he saw Karamatsu sitting up and breathing. "Nii-san!" He shouted and tackled him to the ground, blades of torched grass flew upward from the wind of the fifth born's leap.

"Gahhh! Jyushimats- That hurts!" He tore himself from his brother's hold but Jyushi's smile did not go away, instead the younger lightly laughed and patted his shoulder; which also hurt. "Yow-ch!"

"Nii-san is okay!"

Karamatsu attempted a smile and petted the hair on his head down gently into it's proper shape; whilst trying so hard to ignore the fact that blood was defiling it. "Yes, I am okay Jyushi, but what happened here and where are-?" He paused when he saw Osomatsu several yards away face down on the ground. "Osomatsu!" He shouted and attempted to stand only to now notice that the woods posed a danger, trees were singed black but some nearby were burning like the town had been earlier.

"He's okay, just out cold. Lying like a rock, at least you came through."

The solemn voice had Karamatsu looking back at Ichimatsu who was now making his way over to his eldest brother.

"Jyushimatsu?"

"Yes!" Jyushi stood up abruptly and sloppily ran over to Ichimatsu who now stood at his brother's unconscious body. 

"Carry him, we need to get out of here and take cover somewhere else before it returns."

"Before 'it' returns?" Karamatsu repeated.

The fourth born turned back around and nodded with a serious expression. "I don't know what it is, all I know is that there was a very bright light raining down from a large shadow in the sky." He looked away briefly. "Then there was an explosion."

"Ex-explosion?!" Karamatsu stammered aloud while gaping widely.

"Yeah, I can't fully explain it; it just seemed like an explosion and it nearly killed us. Actually, there were several bursts, but only one was close enough to hit us. It blew you 'face-first' into a tree; which explains why your head hurts and why it took so long to get you up. Karamatsu nodded, no wonder the ends of his hair were lightly singed and why he had a bad migraine. "Todomatsu and Choromatsu were blown away from us." He finished more quietly.

"Whaaa-" The second born trembled at the thought with a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his forehead, he shuddered at the thought of his younger brothers being blown to bits-. It was almost unconceivable, sickening, terrifying, painful... It was enough to make him want to cry but seeing as Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu wasn't too concerned meant that there was some hope for their lives.

"They're alive, Todomatsu and Choromatsu were blown down the hill somewhere; I heard them screaming when the explosion went off and saw one of Choro's shoe's fly off his feet when he was thrown downhill. Actually, they are probably the least injured since the explosion was mostly absorbed by Jyushi." He turned his attention to his younger brother who continued to smile at him and looked rather healthy despite the patches of burnt fabric here and there. "I sometimes wonder if you're even human."

"Hahahhaha! That's because of muscle muscle, hustle hustle. I sure am tough! Practice baseball all day. Ahahhahaha!" He brought his arms up and flexed as he repeated his favorite words and tramped in place. "Muscle muscle, hustle hustle!" He moved his covered arms up and down. "Muscle muscle, hustle hustle!"

Karamatsu managed a smile and narrowed his eyes with determination. "Then what are we waiting for here? Let's go find our bruazas." He said as he slowly pushed himself up onto his feet, he stumbled a bit towards an opening through an arch of burning foliage.

"They were sent flying down that way, remember?" Ichimatsu pointed to his right which was nearly the opposite direction that Karamatsu was going and definitely downhill as he already claimed. Karamatsu kind of had a feeling that his strong urge to reunite with Totty and Choro as soon as possible made him to look like an idiot for not thinking enough.

The second born gave Ichimatsu a thumbs up and caressed the back of his sore head, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and beamed despite his small embarrassing moment. "Very good bruaza, my head must have hit that tree pretty hard eh?" He blinked and lost his smile when Ichimatsu ignored him and watched as Jyushi slung Osomatsu's body carelessly through the air and over his shoulder like he was a lifeless ragdoll.

Karamatsu's grin came back, though a tad bit smaller as he watched his brothers get a head start moving downhill; at least waking him up and already looking for their missing brothers meant that Ichi was trying. And for someone like him... that- that is what counts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A good song to define much of this story between Karamatsu and Ichimatsu is called: It's the only one you've got :by Nickelback. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed! Feel free to comment!


	3. If we had just died

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter, it's Ichimatsu's pov so don't be surprised.

"AHHHH! HELP MEEE SOMEBODY! AGHHHAAA! I DON'T WANNA DIEEEEHHHHH!"

"That sounds like Choromatsu-niisan!" Jyushimatsu perked up from the cry for help and tramped in place with joy as he found the location of one of his missing brothers, his smile widened and he pointed down towards the main bottom of the slope where a large ravine awaited them at the rock's ends. All three stared down at the large gaping tear in the earth, it was intimidating to say the least and the slope down fed right into the dark crevice. Karamatsu and Ichimatsu light quivered from the gap while Jyushi stared with his usual expression. "He's down there!" He said with much assurance and proceeded to move down the slope with Osomatsu still laying lifeless over his shoulder and luckily to be out cold. The other two reluctantly followed.

"Aye! Don't be a reckless idiot, the hill is too steep to run down so slow down!" Ichimatsu barked and grabbed onto a branch close by and used it to keep himself propped up and from falling forward like he almost did, it's difficult to have steady traction in sandals; let alone fly downhill and make to the bottom without tripping up and rolling right into the ominous crevice.

Karamatsu passed him up and used the trees on the side of the slope to go down further and further while grabbing the tree trunks on the way, he was using them to keep himself from going straight down the incline like Jyushi was doing. Ichimatsu cursed the two for having shoes, he didn't like wearing shoes anyway.

"JYUSHIMATSU?! ICHIMATSU?!"

"AYE NISSAN! WE ARE COOOMMMMMIIINNNGGGGG!" Jyushi shouted his return, getting real close to the bottom; he didn't look like he was going to slow down but rather gaining speed. "I'LL SAVE YOU NIISAN!

"Damn it." Ichi cursed and slowly followed after Karamatsu while being more cautious and slow, he was bound to slip up anytime now.

"OH WHY ME? I'M GOING TO DIE FOR SURE!" Choro whined and sobbed, his cry echoed against the walls of the large chasm and sounded out to his brothers.

"I'm coming for you too Choromatsu, just hang in there!" Karamatsu pointed himself out, at least with numbers they can come up with some quick plan to save their brother right? Plus assurance... and just a little bit of notice for his efforts... would help the third born and keep him a tidbit calmer. So he hoped.

"AH SHIT, I'M AS GOOD AS DEAD!"

Ichimatsu came to a complete stop several feet behind the second eldest and watched as Jyushi made it to the bottom first, Kara had stopped and shouted out for the eccentric brother.

"Jyushimatsu!" Karamatsu cried out but to no avail, the boy wasn't stopping or slowing at all. "Jyushi stop!"

Ichimatsu held his breath, his eyes slightly widen in fear of his younger brother; the idiot was about to jump into the hole with their other idiot brother and get themselves killed like a brave maniac. And what was he doing? Just standing there and watching and catching his breath and being so concerned for his trashy self? ... Nah, it was no point; it was far too late to do anything now. He was already feeling exhausted and his side... he placed a hand over it and held the covered flesh, underneath lied a huge spot of pain. It stung from the immediate contact. "Shit- ... Jyushimatsu." He said quietly to himself with disdain for his pathetic self.

"I'll SAVE YOUUUUUU!" Jyushi's feet moved to the very edge of the cliff and he leapt with all his might towards the other side, a big smile still on his face as he passed over the ravine and time seemed to almost slow down as he flew over the hole of darkness and right towards another cliff face. Osomatsu was still limp in his grasp, but he imagined how much the eldest would brag about him if he had been awake to see him save Choromatsu. His feet reached the other side and both bodies toppled to the ground in the formless crash, Jyushi sat up and stared blankly at a greenish figure hanging on the edge of a large rock; just barely below the cliff edge... on the opposite side. He laughed to himself and facepalmed before waving at his older brother. "Hehehe, hey Choromatsu-niisan! I didn't see you hanging there! hehhe... my bad!"

Karamatsu, Ichimatsu, and Choromatsu; who was still in danger, showed dark expressions that would best describe as a 'what the hell?' moment. They were clearly not impressed or excited for the guy who made quite a big jump.

'The idiot didn't even know which side Choromatsu was hanging off of... he didn't even ask or look... ughh what a waste and why almost kill himself and Osomatsu-niisan? Oh Jyushi.' Ichimatsu thought to himself and took a deep breath of relief, at least the guy was good enough to make that enormous of a leap; otherwise there would be more dead brothers than he cared to lose.

"I'm still hanging on down here, you know? ... Like if you want to rescue me? HELLO!" Choro spoke out more loudly. "DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME DAMN IT! I CAN'T HANG ON FOR MUCH LONGER... AHHHH! HAND CRAMPS!"

"I'm coming!" Karamatsu said aloud as he made it down to the cliff edge and leaned over a bit for a peek for his unfortunate brother. "Choromatsu?!"

"I'm right here, some help would be... very appreciated!" He retorted with an agitated tone, his fingers were starting to feel numb and he wasn't as near as athletic and strong as Jyushimatsu, or even Osomatsu. Thankfully, he was only dangling a few feet down from the cliff face, holding onto a small ledge of stone.

A small thought made Ichimatsu crack a very thin smile, he wondered what it would be like if he could just push his pain-in-the-ass brother into the crevice. He wondered how deep the hole was and how long it would take to hear a thud. As he was thinking on his more happier thought he was abruptly ripped away from it when he heard Choromatsu suddenly cry out in fear, as if his hands had slipped. His heart stopped. He stared with wide eyes in place as Karamatsu quickly threw himself to the ground and swiftly reached over and down partially into the ravine to grab a hold of his brother's arm in a second's notice. His upper torso was halfway into the ravine; the only thing that kept him from falling was the lower half of his body that kept him in place like an anchor.

"Gottcha!" Karamatsu grinned with droplets of sweat rolling off of his face and falling into the darkness of the pit. "Just hang on bruaza, we-we'll get out of thi-s." He said with his tone cracking from the strain that was being put on his body; his arms hurt like hell and much more than they did when he first woke up after the explosion chaos, but so long as his brother's life was hanging in the balance then he would do anything and everything that he could to keep his dear family alive. They were apparently all they had left. Just each other.

"Th-than- thank you Karamatsu-niisan!" Choromatsu stammered with a large smile and tears flowing down his cheeks in large globules, he almost slipped and fell to his death; he would have if Kara hadn't grabbed his wrists in time. "Please get me out of here." He tried to sound more stable despite still being in danger.

Ichi watched in amazement as Karamatsu struggled to lift their brother out of the darkness, he was slow and struggling but making progress no less. This was Shittymatsu here, throwing his life on the line to do something so foolish and noble; even though he was barely doing much... he was doing much more than Ichimatsu himself was and taking the pain of holding a full-bodied man with only his arms. His kindness is too much, too painful. Ichimatsu blinked and looked down at himself; he was still clinging to a tree branch and just watching from afar as his older brother actually try and save the other all on his own. And he... he did nothing. Choromatsu needed help still! He should go down there and help but his legs wouldn't move, his body wouldn't move and he couldn't understand why. 

Was he afraid? He shook his head back and forth and bit his bottom lip. 'Nonsense.' He told himself. Could he even do something even remotely worth a cause? What is holding him back?!

He's so useless, unburnable trash! Besides, it's not like he could do much now anyways! Karamatsu had it.

"Gahhhh!" Karamatsu shrieked as Choromatsu's weight and gravity pulled downward on his arms, his boots that were dug into the dirt were being forcibly pulled out and he found himself slipping forward towards the infinite black. "Ahhh! I'm slipping! Ichimatsu, help!" He cried out and started slipping more further and faster.

Ichi only stared in shock, there's no way he'd make it down there in time; it'd take too long to reach them. Actually, he'd just get down there to watch them slip away; it would be a pointless endeavor and he may even get himself killed in the process if he tried. The purple-matsu closed his eyes shook, now he regretted wanting to push Karamatsu into the ravine; at least Shittymatsu was trying for the right reasons to save 'their brother'! He mentally cursed Kara for his ridiculous kindness and willingness to go on a limb for NEET trash that doesn't deserve it; such a thing as kindness was going to be the end of him one of these days. Maybe even today it seemed. Damn him for such qualities that sets him apart from the rest!

The second eldest saw one his younger brother still on the slope in the corner of his eye, the fourth born looked not quite afraid but hesitant for some reason; it was almost as if he was indecisive in choosing his own safety over that of his brothers lives; weighing the risks and rewards. Did he not care for his brothers enough? Those lifeless- now full of light eyes said something else though. Something hopeful. "Ichiii..." 

The desperation of the voice... the pain so etched into the very name muttered, it coaxed him. Ichimatsu doesn't know why Karamatsu calling out to him with that tone pulled him to step forward but he did, he carefully made steps downward while using the tree bases and roots as safe stepping stones; Karamatsu's way of getting down safely.

But it was too late, he was still too far away.

Karamatsu felt himself slipping and he screamed.

"Hup hup hup! NIIISSSSAAAANNNN!" Jyushi shouted aloud, he had leapt back over with Osomatsu on his shoulder yet again; he landed on both of his feet this time with a slight rocking on his heels and reached down to pluck Karamatsu's ankle before he fully slipped over the edge.

Thank whatever gave Jyushimatsu his incredible strength. Ichimatsu thought and felt himself kneel over a little and cough, that was a close call and he was relieved that the sunshine brother had taken action before it was too late.

"I've got you too Karamatsu niisan and Choromatsu niisan!" Jyushi beamed as he lifted Karamatsu and Choromatsu out of the abyss, both boys had been placed on the ground and they rolled over onto their backs while breathing heavily; Kara much more since he was took the strain of the weight. "I can carry you too if you want."

"No thanks. I've had enough of heights for today." Choromatsu politely replied despite heaving for breath and sounding irate, he was almost sure he was going to die and now he was probably going to have a panic attack.

"Non... non Jyushimats... I'll be fine my brother." Karamatsu said in between breaths. That was too close of a call.

Ichi moved slowly to join his brothers a few yards down, they looked towards him when he got close enough and Choromatsu was definitely not too happy to see him.

The third born turned towards Jyushi and gave him thankful smile. "Thank you Jyushimatsu, that was a very close call and you saved us..." He looked back at Ichimatsu with an indignant frown and then crossed his arms before continuing. "Unlike some people who wouldn't give a shit if we fell to our deaths." There was no need for a name, everyone was looking at Ichi, Karamatsu with a disappointed look, Jyushi; his usual smile. Osomatsu was still unconscious.

"Ichimatsu, was coming." Karamatsu defended which earned a small surprised look from his younger sibling, his eyes looking away from his brother. "He just didn't make it down here but he was trying."

"Trying? Like hell, he had plenty of time and if we meant more to him then he would have been down here already. So what do you say Ichimatsu? You're a coward?"

Ichi's surprised expression fell and he blew it off his shoulder with a "Tch." His brothers were alright so it didn't matter how he felt anymore, though he was scared but not of the cliff as he was for the sake of his brothers lives; he wouldn't admit aloud. "I know I took so long, but I still wouldn't have made it down there in time; I'm wearing sandals. It would be effort wasted so I hesitated to move."

'I would have fucked things up anyway.'

"Still, do you not care about us?" He finally moved his gaze back on his younger brother.

"Not really." 

'Actually, yes... a lot.' Ichimatsu remained cold despite the thoughts in his head that were far from it, it was... easier this way. 

"At least not for you." He said to Karamatsu.

'I don't deserve a brother like you, even if you are so painful. As of now, you are one of the last one of us that should die. ... At least after me.'

"Really Ichi? You cold son of a- errr... you're the worst!" Choro scolded with an accusing finger pointed at the younger. "You choose the worst times to be such a hardass, and you are always saying shit about us. You need to grow up."

"Tch, whatever." He replied bitterly and turned away from his brothers.

'I know.'

"It'd be better for this world if we all just die." He said as he began trod back up the hill with his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, at least he tried for once and apparently it wasn't enough. Forget this shit, he just wanted to find Todomatsu and find some place to settle down and sleep.

'I should be the one to die, I am the worst trash, but I don't think I could have the courage to even dispose of myself down in that hole. Ugh, so useless!'

Karamatsu lightly gasped but his shock faded when he remembered how much Ichimatsu detested him and himself in the first place. But those eyes earlier, and he did try to come and help after much contemplation. Still... He sighed and stretched his back out some, there may be hope for him yet. He couldn't give up on him that easily.

"That wasn't very nice Choromatsu-niisan." Jyushi said to his older brother and held out a hand to help him off of the ground.

Choromatsu took the aid but not without a counter for Jyushimatsu's attempt to scold. "And you think that what I said was harsh? He just told us to all die, even you."

"He says that all of the time, not you."

"Don't defend him, I'm about tired of his attitude anyways; he's always being so mean and with no damn reason but to make us feel bad about ourselves. Plus, he acts like he's nothing but garbage but can't throw his 'precious' life away to save his own brothers? Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?"

"Jyushimatsu is right, he's always been that way. Those words really shouldn't come as a surprise."

"But they're still hurtful Karamatsu-niisan, hell, you should be the most hurt out of us!"

Karamatsu feigned a grin and changed his stance to stand like he was an unbreakable castle wall. He placed his hands on his hips and let the crude words that were dumped on him to float away. "That may be true, but I see no reason to hold anything against my bruazas. Those words are nothing. He's not the only one to insult me you know." He pointed to his younger and his eyes watched as Choromatsu thought to himself for a few long seconds after that reply. "He's not the only one, but as I've said; words are nothing."

"Still," Choromatsu dusted himself off. "He's pretty damn heartless at times I swear."

"But ESP kitty." Jyushimatsu defended quietly to Choromatsu who was still more than pissed, his expression fell some but anger still displayed across his features.

Choromatsu then sighed, the younger was right after all, especially since the found out that everything Ichimatsu had said that day was the exact opposite of what he had really felt; this small argument could be just the same but the fourth born just doesn't want to admit his real feelings. Yet, this time felt different, surely if Ichimatsu had cared then he would kicked off his sandals and been down there in seconds. "Ugh, I know Jyushi and that's a pretty good point. But this time I somewhat doubt it."

"But maybe he isn't lying?" The younger brother stated with a falling hopeful expression, his large smile faltered lightly. "Maybe he wants us to live, maybe he's scared for us but can't say it. Ichimatsu-niisan has us, we are his brothers... and his friends."

Choromatsu had to look away from Jyushi, that pitiful expression and words were already sinking in and making himself feel bad for saying the shit he did when he knows how much Ichimatsu doesn't like showing his direct feelings. Why now of all times did he have to have a quarrel with his brothers? Did the universe hate him that much? He felt Jyushimatsu pulling on his sleeve. "Okay, okay, I'll have a talk with him later. We'll sort this 'whatever this is' out later. I know it's probably shitty of me to say this; but I sometimes wish you wouldn't defend him all of the time, he needs to get out of that shell and be real to us and himself. He'll get nowhere in life living like that, he worries me the most." He finished, knowing well that since Jyushimatsu was the most closest to Ichi out of all of them that the jovial-polar opposite one would always stick to him.

"He will. I know it." Karamatsu said with a proud smile as he watched his brother slowly saunter up the slope.

"And just what in the hell are you saying, I wasn't talking to you." Choro pointed out to Kara who only winked in a painful manner like he knew what they were talking about when he really had no clue; but maybe had some speculation that Ichi had some issue showing how he felt.

Ichimatsu tried to ignore the things his brothers were saying but he found it difficult since he had good hearing and nothing to keep his mind preoccupied. He wasn't in any shell, he was being real, just not with the same wording. Besides, he didn't need his brothers worrying over someone who wasn't worth worrying about; they should focus more on finding Totty and things like where they were going to go or what to do after being forced to leave the town and now stuck out here in the wilderness. Or those damn lights coming from the sky and blowing shit up. Damn, why did they ride on his back? So he didn't do anything help, but at least they are okay. 'Damn it Jyushi'. He sneered to himself. He didn't need his little brother or Shittymatsu to defend him, he can back himself up. He didn't need to show anything, it's easier to blow it off than to sit down and speak things out like Totty does... or what women do. Ugh. 

Can't they just leave him alone already.

After a few quiet grumblings to himself he stopped in place when the darkness around him started to lighten up, it was still too early for the morning sun to come up so why was the ground getting brighter? It was then when it hit him. Ichimatsu looked up and in between the trees to see beams of white light streaking across the atmosphere, his eyes went wide and a few beads of sweat formed on his face. "No, not again." He said to himself, not noticing his brothers now a few feet below him and approaching with curious eyes at the pretty rays beaming through the dark overcast.

"Uoooooooow." Jyushi stared at the lights, they were pretty, the beams shining down reminded him of the lighting at baseball fields when the game lasted into the late evening. He was entranced by the lights and just stood in place while thoughts of baseball filled his head.

"What is this... beautiful lighting?" Karamatsu pondered with a hand on his chin, the light looked like it was coming down heaven itself; as if to brighten a stage for him to stand in and express his extravagant style and pose. It was magnificent to his eyes and inspirational to say the least. Bright light raining down for him like sunshine... He blinked and his smile fell. "Wait, light raining down?" He tapped his chin a few times before gasping. "Ichimatsu, didn't you say that the light meant-"

Karamatsu didn't even get to finish his question before a loud boom and another bright light blinded them; they were not hit directly but an explosion of light and fire several feet away had the ground rumbling. The boys struggled to stay standing as the earth beneath their feet started to shift from the aftershocks of the burst, the powerful wave of energy from the explosion had knocked the boys off of their heels and they tumbled to the ground before rolling down the steep incline and right towards the crevice.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!" Karamatsu, Ichimatsu, and Choromatsu screamed as they roughly tumbled downhill at a swift pace.

"WEEEEEEE!" Jyushi cried out in laughter, it was rather fun for him even though he would mutter an ouch here and there when he rolled over a branch or rock.

Before the brothers knew it they had tumbled over the cliff face at the bottom of the hill and right over the abyss of the ravine, they all shouted with real fear when they looked down and felt gravity drawing them into the darkness below. Their cries echoed as they plummeted to the bottom, not certain when they were going to smack into the ground or what they might land on.

"Goodbye cruel world!" Choromatsu whined.

... Osomatsu had no words whatsoever since he was out of it.

"... My Karamatsu girls, I'm sorry but this is the end." Karamatsu let a teardrop fly from his face with a dramatic expression of sorrow on his features while also in a pose that he wouldn't mind dying in, he didn't imagine dying so soon when he was still young and a gift to the world but there was nothing he could do but go out in style.

"AHHHHHHHHHAAAA!" Jyushimatsu opened his mouth wider and laughed at the tickling of his gums, the air from his fall felt like Karamatsu's hair blower in his mouth.

He wanted to speak but Ichimatsu couldn't say anything, he only watched himself fall deeper and deeper into the black; it was almost calming in a sense. Yet; if he was going to die then he should at least say something to his brothers, a goodbye or an apology? But he just couldn't, though they deserved that, actually they deserved a better brother but he was still worthless trash and couldn't change that. Ichimatsu realized that years ago. Now they were all going to die and he was the one with no will to live and was probably going to watch his brothers hit the ground first since they tumbled down the hill faster and were a few feet ahead of him in the descent.

Oh well, a few seconds wouldn't matter, they were all going to see their parents real soon it seemed. He hoped to see his beloved feline friend too, the cat deserved a better caretaker but he couldn't deny his love for that kitty; for all they've been through and how loyal it was to him, he almost couldn't wait to impact with the earth and be out of his pathetic life and into the arms and paws of his family.

SPLASH!

All five of the bodies had plummeted right into murky water at the bottom of the chasm, they sunk deep into the water from the impact and slowly floated upwards. Choromatsu was the first to realize he was sinking and swam to the surface before gasping for air, he flailed his arms about and swam over to the side of the crevice to grab onto the rock walls to keep himself afloat. He blinked and squinted his eyes to see his brothers, it was very dark and he could barely see his hand with it being night. "Jyushimatsu? Karamatsu-niisan!? Ichimatsu?! Osomatsu-niisan!?" He shouted out their names and he smiled in relief when he saw a yellow figure bobbing out of the water and moving his arms about like a five-year-old smacking the surface of the water like it was the most fun thing in the world.

"That was fun! Hey look at me Choromatsu-niisan! I'm an octopus, see my tentacles?" He waved over at the older sibling before flailing about and swishing his limbs back in forth in the water loosely like he was an actual sea creature with tendrils.

"This is no time for horsing around, where's Osomatsu, Karamatsu, and Ichimatsu?!"

Jyushi abruptly stopped moving in the water and stared at nothing in particular as he thought. ...

"Well?"

The fifth born said nothing in his response, he only just dipped underwater like he had been dragged down.

"Jyushimatsu!" Choro cried out and clutched the walls tighter with fear, unsure what in the hell happened to his younger brother. He waited and waited with his eyes fixed on the spot Jyushi was last for what seemed like minutes before the fifth came shooting up out of the water with all three brothers in his arms and bobing up and down like he was some floatation device.

"I found them!" He yelled. "I can swim like an octopus." He flexed his arms a little while splashing around some, the boys in his grasp on moaned and coughed up water. Osomatsu had Ichimatsu on top of him and Karamatsu stacked on top of him, the poor eldest was not only being crushed by the weight of his brothers but he was also really wet. He was now awake and looking around lazily like he was still in some sort of strange dream.

"Wha-what's going on?" The eldest asked, still appearing groggy despite being soaked in cold water. "And why am I wet, did Jyushi forget to go to the bathroom again?"

"Oh now you wake up?!" Came the voice of Mr. Rational.

"We landed in water?" Ichimatsu said with distaste and spat out some of the bitter-tasting fluid, he wasn't much of a swimmer and he didn't particularly like baths; especially in filthy water with decaying leaves and twigs with stinky mud. Todomatsu doesn't either, he's probably the lucky one out of the sextuplets... that is unless he's dead; but that might also make him lucky not to be in this hell. He would freak if he saw how dainty and nasty the water looked.

"I can't see, is there any way that we can get out of this water; I'm getting cold." Came the whine of the second born, he was soaked all the way through and his tight pants: when wet; were very uncomfortable.

"Ugh, why couldn't we have died?" Ichimatsu heavily sighed and tried to ignore his older brother wrapping his arms around and clinging to him like a heat source, so painful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, that song I was talking about in last chapter's notes was It's The Only One You Got by '3 Doors Down', not Nickleback (though both bands sound alike and have the same genre)


	4. What hurts the most

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karamatsu's Point Of View, be prepared for laughs and tears; this stuff is about to make Kara's drama club proud.
> 
> Also, I am trying to make a cover for this story and maybe some scenes and whatnot; which will probably take a while.
> 
> Other good news, I am trying to make a post every late Sunday if I can.

"Karamatsu, would you please put your pants back on; for the sake of our eyes. Your hoodie too." Choromatsu scolded as he folded his arms and sighed as the second brother just sat in place and without his pants, hoodie and shoes on, wearing that big grin he seems to always have on his face; it almost matched the picture of his face on his tank minus the sunglasses.

"Geeze Karamatsu, those briefs are so painful." Osomatsu leaned over to his brother and chuckled while pointing at said boxers, laughing at the blue hearts that lined the fabric.

"Hearts! And your tank with your own face on it." Jyushi also pointed out and laughed to himself heartily.

All of the brothers except Todomatsu; he was still missing, and Ichimatsu; who was several feet away in the darkness of the cavern, shared a loud laugh together in front of a nicely built fire. The bright yellow-orange flames lighted up their faces and gave an all around radiant heat for them to bask in after sitting in the dark and wet for over an hour while trying to get settled down and try to sleep again. Of course hoping for success this time.

It was okay, Karamatsu was used to such comments about his clothing and reasoning; he took no offense to his brother's comments and laughs and instead laughed along with them. It wasn't often that he got to enjoy a good laugh or conversation with his brothers so he was going to take what he could get, even if it was just a tinny, tiny, itty-bitty, bit hurtful. "Sorry bruazas, but when my pants are wet they are very uncomfortable. Besides, thanks to the fire our precious little brother made; my clothes are almost completely dry." He said now pulling back a large stick that stuck out of the ground next to him, he pulled it to himself and took off the articles of fabric that held it close to the fire. He was the only one that indulged in the ingenious idea although Choromatsu had at least took off his hoodie and kept it at a 'too safe' distance from the fire; it wasn't completely dry yet but getting there.

Ichimatsu rolled his eyes from the comment, completely shutting everyone out for the time being.

"You're welcome!" Jyushi attempted to give a thumbs up but t was hard to tell with the sleeve of his hoodie hiding it.

"Heh, really, great job little bro." Osomatsu gave his brother a pat on the back and beamed. "And to think all it took was you playing with sticks, ha, not even Fappymatsu could start one like you did."

"Actually, how did he even start one?" Choro asked with a hint of jealousy in his tone of voice with his eyes anywhere but his annoying brothers, his face was one of a sour-puss. He had asked this though he knew that all Jyushi did was try and mimic him from earlier; he just didn't want to admit the sunshine brother's success aloud, he couldn't deny the fact that he tried so hard and still couldn't do a thing. Damn why was Jyushi being the life-saver on this survival trip so far? He was thinking to himself, and after all of his efforts; he got nothing but then Jyushimatsu tries and he's automatically the most useful of the sextuplets though he has no idea of what to do without some form of guidance. "The fire thing, great job." He lightly complimented. "But we know he'd never make out on his own." He finished more bitterly.

Jyushi's smile went unchanged.

"Hey, don't dis out on our little Jyushimatsu; he's proven himself way useful and more than you have been so far."

Hearing Oso say that made Ichimatsu sulk more as if he had a raincloud over his head, he could see Choro in the corner of his eye looking over at him with a deep frown; probably ready to jump on him again for being the 'most' useless.

Karamatsu looked between his two silent brothers, he was sure hoping that the two were not going to put a damper on the light mood him and Oso had built up; Choro already scolded Ichi earlier and even said that he wanted to talk to him later. Kara wished he could do more for his brothers, to calm Choro; if he was still fuming behind his blank expression, and to support Ichi; who needed a little bit of confidence and reassurance that he was just as important as the rest of the brothers though he showed himself to be so careless and cold. He knew that Ichimatsu was not that cold, at least not for the rest of the brothers; and that what mattered right?

"At least someone is useful."

Choromatsu and Karamatsu gaped when the fourth brother said those words loud enough to be heard, Osomatsu and Jyushi only shared curious faces. Honestly the second was expecting the third brother to say it; not the one who would normally never take the blame but rather pass it off. ... Or he was actually referring Choro as a useless one like himself? Possibly both? Kara did not know.

Everyone turned and looked at Ichimatsu who shot a glare their way; although not a threating one.

"Whoa, so dark." Osomatsu whispered.

"Just leave him alone guys, it's for the better." Choromatsu pretended to ignore Ichimatsu for now, but he was sure planning on having a talk with him first thing when they woke up. It was sure time to get him to admit things freely instead of hiding his feelings, it was time for truth. He was going to make the discussion as public as possible between all brothers and get his nasty attitude cleared up. ... or he was going to try if anything. After losing their parents and home; there was no fortress to hide in and no time for needless harsh words when they had no idea what in the hell was plaguing the surface, they needed to be more tightly-kitted in such desperate situations of survival. Because all they had was each other, Osomatsu's own words that rung the most truth that ever came out of that big haughty mouth of his.

With the tension still in the air from earlier, Karamatsu snapped his fingers; it was time for a change of subject and quick before his brothers provoke another needless squabble. He hated fighting with them or watching them go at each other. "So, how are we even going to get out of this chasm anyways huh?" He only caught Osomatsu's and Jyushimatsu's attention. "I mean, we're fortunate to have fell into water and even more fortunate to have enough dry land to sit on and lots of tree branches down h-..." He paused when he noticed that the first and fifth born were now sitting next to each other by the fire and drawing lines in the dirt with sticks, Karamatsu went ignored once again. 'Ah such a curse.' He thought with his expression falling flatter than paper.

"Totty is still out there."

Choromatsu looked over at Karamatsu and then to Ichi who had spoken up despite his simmering temper dying down, his expression was solemn. Karamatsu mentally thanked him for the subject change. "Yeah, you're right; Totty's all on his own now." Choro whispered quietly to himself though he knows everyone heard him. Oso and Jyushi had heard and it turns out that what they were drawing in the dirt was a little stick figure that was winking, their smiles were gone too.

Karamatsu bit the inside of his lip, he knows as well as Choromatsu how much terror their little brother must be in right now; alone and cold, walking through the woods with shaky legs and fright very visible on his face. Karamatsu cringed at the thought of his night-fearing brother all by himself and having to go through the darkness alone. The guy might even think that all of his brothers are dead or missing from all of the explosions. The second eldest blinked and looked up towards the top of the chasm, some stars poked through the cloud cover and glistened softly with some rays of the moonlight peeking through. He noticed that there hasn't been any more 'sky bursts' since the ones that knocked them all the way down here, thankfully there was enough faded light from the moon and stars to help guide their youngest brother somewhere out there. Maybe the silence was a good thing for the time being, it might also mean that Todomatsu might still be okay and alive and well. ... Ha! Of course he was alive and well! Karamatsu suddenly puffed up and clenched a fist with a grin, he didn't feel as fearful for his little brother anymore; why should he? Totty was not one to mess with despite his soft and innocent exterior and demeanor, he was resilient and vengeful at times and clever too; maybe he was way out of his element but he was a capable man when he wanted and needed to be. So he was afraid of the dark, that didn't mean that he was a coward! 'I believe in all of my brothers.'

"He's fine."

"Hmm?" Karamatsu looked over at Osomatsu who showed a more positive expression than he did, and after everything that happened already tonight.

"He's a little monster, that one."

"And that's what you have to say about Totty?" Choromatsu asked while putting his hands on his hips. "He's human, he's our brother. It was the explosions that separated us and might have possibly killed us, I wouldn't say that he's doing 'perfectly well' out there on his own; if he's even alive out there. Don't just assume he's tough and that independent in troubling times like this? I mean-" He folded out his arms and shrugged. "Who's to say that the earth is finally facing an apocalypse? I wouldn't expect any one of us to survive without each other or people who know what in the hell their doing. Keep in mind of the possibilities."

"Apocalypse?" Jyushimatsu questioned with a blank expression and dull eyes.

"Yeah, you know? Like a zombie invasion. When the dead come to life and try to feast off of the living."

"Or when natural disasters of the earth try to tear it apart with beautiful but deadly cataclysmic force!" Karamatsu inputted.

"Oh, and invasions of aliens?" Jyushi added. Oso nodded.

"The whole world is at war." Kara made his hand look like a gun and pointed it to his head. "Bang."

"Climate change that shapes the world, like an ice age or burn up with the decimation of all life."

"Divine judgment." The second born said with a hand over his heart.

"Dysgenics."

Choromatsu shot his elder brother a weird look. "Do you even know what that means?"

Osomatsu rubbed a finger under his nose and chuckled lightly. "I have no idea, I just heard about it from somewhere. Sounds cool."

"Nuclear destruction." Karamatsu continued with dramatic flare as he threw his arm out.

"Parasites!" Jyushi waved his arms around and chomped his teeth a few times like a tiny pest. "Lots of them!"

"Cybernetic revolt!" Osomatsu proclaimed with enthusiasm. "Technology has outgrown mankind and has gained self-awareness. I kind of want to see that kind of apocalypse. Lasers, guns, giant machines raging war against humanity, explosions that would destroy everything! It would be so badass!"

"Or something tragic like economic collapse." The second eldest said with a deep frown. "People would tear each other's throats out for a little scrap of meat, all would be poor." He felt his stomach rumble at the thought of that, he was pretty hungry.

"Or the vast and widespread of disease and incurable viruses that kill millions in weeks. A pandemic destruction of all living things." Ichimatsu surprising said which had everyone quiet for a long second before the boys continued.

"Supernatural phenomena!" Jyushimatsu said aloud and everyone blinked since he would mention something... so out of his range of words and understanding. Well perhaps not understanding since he was some kind of mystery himself.

Osomatsu nodded again. "Uh sure. And don't forget about meteors or comets from space that come raining down and blowing the shit up out of everything!" The eldest added while standing up and pointing to the sky before making a fist and bringing it down into his other palm with an attempted sound effect of an explosion. "Boooom! Maybe that's what's causing the explosions? Earth must be colliding with an asteroid belt or having space rocks fly into it by terrible luck."

"You guys are being ridiculous!" Choro spoke out with annoyance. "And no that's not what's happening Jyushimatsu." He said to the fifth born who only smiled at him, still appearing confused. "For one; most comets burn up in the earth's atmosphere and don't even come close to touching ground. Two, they wouldn't explode; for it was waves of light that caused the bursts not rocks. And three, M.A.S.A would have immediately noticed any form of space rock within thousands of miles of the earth before we'd get hit. There would have been a global warning issued and I'm sure the bests engineers of the world would have come together to create a device that would protect us and/or destroy any close meteors before we'd ever see them."

"Zombies?" Jyushi asked with the tilt of his head.

"Not possible, rabies is probably the only thing close enough to making a flesh eater; either that or some really bad drugs."

"Aliens?"

"Not likely, I'm sure there would have been something on the news about it, or at least some form of contact before all out war. Besides, there's not currently enough proof for an attack from outer space."

"Viruses?" He tilted his head to the other side in wonder.

"How in the hell would viruses even cause explosions? That's just stupid." Choro said with a more agitated tone.

"World war?"

"Nope, there would have been mass media of war. And if we are attacked by another nation then there would have been proclaimed by said nation because like all countries are so prideful and full of themselves." He held out his hand and lightly waved it back and forth to show his current belief in the possibility. "So probably not.

"Cyber-zombies?"

"What?!" Choromatsu found himself putting his hands on his hips again and huffing. "That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Economic dysgenics?"

Choromatsu folded his arms and narrowed his eyes thinly. "Now you're just teasing me Jyushi."

"Well, I won't rule out the apocalypse theory; whatever may it be. Cause whatever it was caused some serious damage and almost got us killed and it was from something I've never seen before." Osomatsu sat back down in front of the fire and sighed. "Whatever caused the explosions must have also burned our town to the ground... and took away mom and dad." He said more quietly. "I have no idea what is causing this chaos but we have to find out and stop it."

Karamatsu blinked. "Stop an apocalypse? Has that ever happened in a movie?"

Osomatsu shrugged. "Not any that I know of, usually the problems just fade unless it's aliens or people out for the blood of others; even then though it comes to a stop when one side wins. So there's no telling; but whatever it is... I want to stop it." He voice grew louder. "I want revenge!" He stomped his foot hard on the ground, hard enough to even have Ichimatsu look his way. "Someone or something took our parents and fortress away so I say we need to find out what the hell did it and put an end to the problem so that we can start again and be the NEETs we wanted to be!"

"We can't be NEETs forever, especially now that Mom and Dad are gone. We have no jobs and no funds for a house or even food."

"We will have our revenge!"

"Yeah!" Jyushi cried out.

"This is stupid talk."

'Ah, Osomatsu-niisan and his willingness to go up and beyond for us, you have my support bruaza.' Karamatsu thought with a forced grin, still trying to fight back the pain of losing their parents; that very mention of such a dreadful loss still hurts him. "You're right, we can't risk losing anyone else. I'm in."

"But... we'd likely die trying." The reasonable one tried to defend.

"Me too!" Jyushimatsu jumped up and started to pace back and forth while pumping his arms. "We'll be family again! All of us!"

"Ughhh, don't you guys even hear yourselves?" The third born sighed loudly and his shoulders sank, as extremely ridiculous as it sounded; stopping apocalypse bullshit, he really didn't have a choice seeing as his brothers always pulled him into some stupid shenanigans of some sort. It's unavoidable, always unavoidable. He can't escape them and their escapades and schemes; not now and not ever since they would rather take advice from a space rock or some stupid science-fiction movie. Besides, someone had to be the brains of the outfit or all of the sextuplets were doomed, or doomed to die before they even find the cause of the destruction. Why me? He thought.

"Fappymatsu, you in?"

Choro shot Oso a small glare but it went without purpose, it always does but he can't help but show his disapproval in all bad ideas; which were the majority in Osomatsu's case. He sighed again and rested his chin on his hand. "Fine, whatever. You need someone smart enough to get your asses out of trouble anyways."

"Good!"

"Ichimatsu, will you join us?" Karamatsu looked over at his younger brother who was still distancing himself from everyone. 

He got nothing.

"Yeah, come and join us. We're going to stop whatever in the hell is destroying stuff around here."

Still no response.

Karamatsu frowned, it was like Ichimatsu was now intentionally ignoring them; he was sitting alone and pretty far from the fire. He sure missed the days when Ichi would throw in his input and come up with some kind of plan for revenge; usually dealing with bombs, dynamite. or grenade belts. He liked revenge and anything that dealt with payback, he liked to blow things up with rockets or various explosives. To see him not even showing much interest now was unlike him. "Will you not at least come close to the fire and dry up? It must be cold over there."

Ichimatsu scoffed and brought his knees closer to his body.

He was definitely cold.

"You're going to get sick." Choromatsu warned, his tone held some concern. "I know you're still probably mad from earlier and everything but now is not the time to keep a grudge from keeping your health, you haven't dried up any. Please come over here already."

"Ichimatsu-niisan?" Jyushi asked with his smile falling a bit and a slight tilt of his head. "Please? It sure would be more fun if you came over here and help us plot revenge; you're really good at it. ... Niisan?"

Nothing...

Osomatsu stood up and walked over to Ichimatsu when the younger brother didn't reply or even spare them a small glance. Not even for Jyushimatsu and that was saying something since the two were pretty close out of all of the brothers.

Karamatsu stood up too, he knew how the two brothers had argued earlier and was ready to step in again and stop Osomatsu if he tried to pick any fights or get physical in any way. Now the eldest did care about his brothers but his way of getting through to them in tough situations was not always the proper method of dealing with personal matters, he was also headstrong. He's also prone to getting into arguments and saying smartass remarks when he gets ticked, for all they knew; Osomatsu was about to make matters worse. Karamatsu knew his elder brother well, he also knows that he can be a pretty good brother if he tried.

"Hey Ichi," The first born walked over and stood in front of the younger, his expression was blank but his tone was soft. "About earlier." He rubbed the back of his head and sighed, his expression fell but he recovered quickly with a large smile. "I know that you're probably still mad at me and everything with the argument and such, but I just wanted to say that I am sorry; I just didn't want to risk losing you back there and I didn't even consider how you felt about the situation. Heh, I guess I didn't have my head on my shoulders at the time." He said while shooting a small glance over at Choro who rolled his eyes but faintly grinned. "You guys are all I have now, apology accepted?" He asked carefully, hoping for an acceptation.

The fourth born looked up at him and stared for a long minute before moving his eyes back to his feet. "Sure, that's not what is bothering me anyway." He said blankly.

"Oh that's a relief." Osomatsu rubbed a finger underneath his nose and kneeled down in front of his brother. "Look, if you want to talk about it then we can, you can even sit by me over in front of the fire; what do ya say? Join us?"

"I want to be left alone and I don't want to talk about anything."

Osomatsu lifted up and tilted his head a bit with a questionable expression. "Wow, you really are being cold, but if that is what you want then who am I to stop you?" He shrugged and walked by Karamatsu who smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder as he passed by. "Happy?"

Karamatsu nodded, almost as if saying 'thanks for keeping your cool' and let his elder brother return back to his spot next to Choro. Jyushimatsu kept his gaze on Karamatsu.

"Karamatsu-niisan?" The fifth born asked.

"Hm?" He turned to face his younger brother.

"I want to help."

Those simple words made Kara wonder if Jyushimatsu was reading his mind, oh his little Jyushimatsu and his love for his brothers. Jyushimatsu was clearly the second best when it came to heartfelt concerns of their brothers and yet Ichimatsu liked Jyushi more even though Kara and Jyushi wasn't that much different when it came to brotherly care. Of course he was the painful one though; without effort making his siblings detest him because of his unique style, love for sequins and glitter, his talent in singing and playing the guitar, use of western words, and his 'one-of-a-kind personality. He loved who he was and the things he did, he was being himself and yet no one but Jyushimatsu; when he wasn't distracted or persuaded by majority, wouldn't think of him as a good brother but rather a painful one and often ignore or even poke fun of him. Thankfully he almost always had an ally, or just sometimes who would see what was going on and do what needed to be done for the sake of their loved ones.

Or so he at least he wished he had someone to recognize him for his efforts.

He could see Ichimatsu stewing in his grief and anger, that had to be the issue; everyone was in some way but at least they were together when doing it and had each other for support, even if it was kind of half-assed at some points. Heh, they were even talking about stopping something seemingly impossible to do but did it anyways, the conversation even helped in raising the mood. His little brother needed to put the sad thoughts aside for now and get dried off before he becomes ill and risks his health. But for now though, it didn't seem like he was going to budge; that meant that the only way that he and Jyushimatsu could help their brother would be when the fourth was asleep. Karamatsu looked over at his clothes still by the fire, they looked near dry and warm like they had come out straight out of a dryer. It didn't take much thought to figure out what he could do for his dear brother Ichimatsu, he did though need some help later. He looked over at Jyushi who had taken off his slippers and had his feet close to the fire and leaning back with his arms behind in to hold himself up, a big smile was plastered on his face as he watched the flames flicker. Osomatsu and Choromatsu looked sleepy and ready to retire for tonight, Oso muttered a quiet 'goodnight' before laying down on the ground and yawing loudly. Choro yawned to himself quietly and kept his gaze on the fire too.

"Hey Jyushi?"

The yellow themed brother turned his head towards his older brother and blinked. "What is it Niisan?"

"You can go ahead and rest, I'll wake you when..." He shot Ichimatsu a glance out of the corner of his eye, he looked like he was struggling to sleep but would probably be out of it soon. "When I need you okay?"

"Okay!" Jyushimatsu then felt back flat and was out like a light bulb, almost asleep instantaneously.

How little Jyushi did that still amazed him.

Everyone else slowly fell asleep, Karamatsu however; made sure to keep awake to tend to the fire and await for Ichi to rest.

...

It wasn't more than twenty minutes before the fourth born was snoring.

With Ichimatsu was completely out of it and snoring away quietly, Karamatsu lightly reached over and gently shook Jyushimatsu; which brought him out of his light slumber and look around for what caused him to awaken. He saw his older brother with his hoodie in hand motion for him to follow as he tiptoed over to the sleeping form that was halfway from slipping out of his position and close to landing on the ground. Ichimatsu was tilted over some with his chin resting on his knees, his arms were on the ground at his sides and barely keeping him upright. The second eldest moved stealthily over to his brother and leaned himself back against the wall, Kara let himself slide down to take the place of the emptiness next to his sibling, Ichimatsu slowly slid over into the place next to Kara and was caught by Karamatsu's shoulder. 

He made it just in time.

"I want to help too Niisan. ... I'll do my best."

"Shssh. I know Jyushi, but you have to be quiet alright?" He said with a finger up to his lips and a smile on his face.

The brother in yellow nodded and sat down on Ichimatsu's left side rather roughly and without much thought of how his actions were going to effect the sleeping brother, he then turned his head towards the elder brother and spoke loudly. "So how do we help?"

Karamatsu brought a finger back to his lips again. "Please be careful and try to whisper little Jyushi, do you want to wake our dear brother?" He asked with a hint of agitation from Jyushimatsu's continuation of speaking loudly. "Understand?"

Jyushi nodded again.

"Good. Now I need you to understand this very clearly okay." Karamatsu had lost his smile and whispered with much caution as in not to awaken the sleeping form leaning on him. "We have to be very quiet and careful if we are going to help Ichimatsu. I need you to do this very 'carefully' now, you are going to have to grab his shoulder and pull him towards you and lean him back against the wall. Can you do that?"

"Why?" Jyushimatsu said with his normal outdoor voice.

"Shhsssshhhh!" Karamatsu felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his head when Ichi unconsciously stirred some and garbled something incomprehensible before falling back into a light snore, that was a close call. Kara wondered could his little brother ever follow instructions properly. Even if he doesn't, at least he has the right intent to help; with that thought he was going to see to it that Jyushi does help one way or another. "Pull him towards you but don't wake him up, I can't; he's leaning on me."

"Aye." Jyushimatsu said with his huge smile and grabbed Ichimatsu by the shoulder before moving his elder brother upright and letting him rest against the wall again as asked.

Karamatsu had to applaud his brother for doing exactly as asked even if he still wasn't whispering, Ichimatsu was now upright; now it was time to help their brother. "Jyushi, we are going to pull off his hoodie-"

"But it's still wet."

"Shhhhssssshhhhh!" Karamatsu brought a finger to his lips again but with an irate expression on his face, Ichi was stirring again. "I know, that's why we are going to replace his with mine. He's going to get sick if we don't get it off of him, so I need you to be very quiet and be very delicate in helping me get it off." His expression fell to an uncomfortable one but he still managed to form a small reassuring smile for his little brother. "Understand?"

Jyushi nodded once more.

"Okay then," Kara moved himself over some to have some space and was about to grab the bottom of the purple hoodie and the undershirt when it suddenly went up and over Ichi's shoulders; but it got caught on the fourth born's head and arms. Karamatsu's jaw dropped and he started to visibly fret when he saw Jyushimatsu now standing and trying to yank the hoodie off with force. "Jyushimats- stop!" Kara managed a yell in a whisper and had had multiple droplets of sweat rolling down his face. the younger was pulling but the wet hoodie was not budging as Jyushimatsu pulled. "Stop. ... please? You're going to wake him up!" He shouted in whispers.

With that Jyushimatsu stopped pulling and smiled down at his brother. "It's stuck on Ichi-niisan's big head." He then laughed, a loud enough laugh to lightly echo against the chasm walls. Jyushi immediately stopped laughing and looked around. "Who's there?"

Damn it why couldn't he whisper?! Karamatsu let his anger roll right off of his shoulders, Jyushimatsu was doing his best he had to remind himself. Wiping away the sweat over his brow he looked back over and guffawed when he saw Jyushi now tugging the fabric up roughly with his foot over top of Ichimatsu's foot to anchor him down as he pulled upward. "Jyushimatsu!" He shouted in a whisper again. He went stiff in place and covered his face with his hand and thought bitterly. Oh Ichimatsu was going to kill them, either that or scold them... or just him. He was not ready for an argument, he detested the very idea of yelling at Ichi and having himself being more distant from his apathetic brother. Karamatsu dreaded the thought until a purple hoodie was pushed into the uncovered side of his face. He grabbed a hold of the heavy and soaked fabric and pulled it back some and noticed that Jyushi had also pulled off Ichi's 'DAT' long-sleeved shirt off too which made the next step all the more easier. He looked up at a smiling Jyushi before glancing over at Ichi; who was miraculously still asleep and lightly snoring like nothing ever happened.

How can Jyushi pull off miracles?! He has to be out of this world.

Karamatsu felt an eyebrow twitch. 'How? Ichimatsu must really be tired or a heavier sleeper than I thought.'

"I helped Niisan. I helped 'two' niisans." Jyushi made a peace sign with his fingers that were hardly distinguishable with his stretched sleeve hiding his hand.

Karamatsu pushed away the confused thought and shot a grin towards his brother and even gave him a thumbs up. "Very good my little Jyushimatsu, but now we have to put this one over him so he doesn't freeze and get sick." He said with his own hoodie in his grasp, he had put the purple one aside.

"Okay." He plopped right onto the ground with a loud thud.

"Shhsssh!" Karamatsu warned again with a little annoyance, he had tiny visible vessels of blood in his eyes from the stress. "Remember, we have to be quiet and delicate; we would not want to wake up our bruaza now would we?" He clenched Jyushimatsu by the shoulders and lightly shook him.

Jyushimatsu took a second to think before swinging his head from side to side.

"Good now-"

"But Niisan... Ichimatsu-niisan is hurt."

"Eh?" Kara was confused at this.

"Ichi-niisan needs more help."

The sudden drop of Jyushi's loud tone and pointing finger had Karamatsu blink in confusion and look towards their sleeping brother. The second eldest's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, he went ridged from what he saw. There on Ichimatsu's right side, right in the center of his side was a wound; a nasty wound with a large chunk of wood sticking right out of it. How he hadn't immediately noticed it when trying to pull up the hoodie was baffling; but then again Ichi's pale arms kind of hid it from his close position. But still, there's a freaking branch inside of his brother! Cautiously and quietly Karamatsu crawled back over to Ichimatsu, he couldn't take his eyes off of the chunk of wood that pierced his dear sibling. 'How long has he had this? Where did he...?' Karamatsu suddenly gasped and remembered a little while ago when Ichi was moving down the steep hill slowly, he even remembered his little brother clenching his side once in the descent when he asked for help in trying to hang onto Choromatsu.

Now it made sense.

Or some sense regarding his effort.

The wound was slightly puffy and red around the ends; clusters of dried blood surrounded the hole and a streak of dull crimson ran down from the opening and into Ichi's waistline. It looked terribly painful and sickening, Kara was having trouble trying to keep himself from puking from something so painfully wretched. He paled some from seeing the damage, there was no way of gaging the length of the branch impaled inside of him or what the extent of the damages were. How Ichimatsu could move even one step without complaint or worry was a major concern. This was their brother, with an impalement; acting like he was fine, not once saying that he was hurt or in physical pain. Without thought Karamatsu reached a hand out to touch the wood but his wrist was caught by Jyushimatsu who swung his head back in fourth. 

"Don't do that silly Niisan, he's hurt." The fifth's smile was smaller now. "It'll hurt him more."

Karamatsu withdrew his hand and brought his palm to his face with self disgust. 'Gah, what am I doing?!' He felt a tear form in the corner of his eye when he thought of the times that Ichimatsu said he wasn't worth anything and that he was trash, he repeated those things not too long ago at that. Saying he wanted to just die already. 'Does he think of himself this lowly? To not even ask us about his health and worry about something so severe as this? Was he planning to keep going like this until he got an infection and killed over? What the hell Ichi!' Karamatsu seethed to himself, not mad at his brother but mad at his carelessness for his own wellbeing. He could have at least had the decency of removing the wood, now it was bound to get infected unless treated. But how? The only place they knew to go was gone.

The second born blinked and ran a hand through his hair, they were no where near a doctor and none of his brothers had any expertise on how to treat open wounds or much less have the knowledge of cleaning them out and patching themselves up properly. Usually the hospital or Dekapan would tend to them when injured, not themselves; hell even their mother would know what to do about this if they had no medical assistance from professionals. Karamatsu leaned back with a heavy heart, he knows there's nothing he can do because Ichimatsu would never accept help from any of his brothers; not for something like this. Not even Jyushimatsu, heh, Jyushi would definitely make matters worse. 'Oh my Ichi.' He fought back a pang of sorrow welling up in his chest, surely Ichimatsu was going to leave the wound as it is so that he would pass away and probably unnoticed in his sleep. He didn't need the fourth brother to confirm this, Ichimatsu proclaimed himself useless and saying that they should all die. But why like this?

Ichimatsu deserved more in life than what he got, he was totally needed and wanted; he was precious to him like all of his other brothers were. Did he really want to die that badly and alone? Would he even dare to leave Jyushimatsu behind just because the sunshine brother had the cool painful brother to take care of him? When did he ever find himself worth nothing? 

That was the question wasn't it? Karamatsu couldn't remember where Ichimatsu got his darkness, surely it was before they became NEETs so it had to have happened sometime in high school. 

Probably the one time he tried to openly confess to one of the most popular girls in school and ended up shitting on himself from the pressure of possible rejection. To make matters worse he scared her off from the embarrassing public situation and it was no wonder that girl stayed far away from him and his brothers for the rest of their years in school. Or why some of their classmates called them 'Shitter'. Ichimatsu back then was so shy and quiet, he didn't have much confidence in himself at the time but Karamatsu tried to help him get over his fear of talking to girls and help him confess to his crush. He failed miserably despite the support and gave up trying to get a girlfriend, he stuck to porn and still has issues talking to women. He still finds it hard not to take a shit when he's around a pretty lady, he has no confidence and no motivation. This had to be the reason he lost his normalcy, he must have found himself worth as much as shit; becoming a useless NEET only crushed whatever motivation he had left... if he had any at all.

He must still see himself that way, useless and cowardly, no good for nothing. All because he lost confidence and dwelled in his own negativity. It's no wonder he wants compliments so badly, he wants to be noticed for doing something good and right for once. Karamatsu couldn't complain, he wanted to be noticed too, albeit for a slightly different reason.

Karamatsu hated himself just a bit for not realizing this sooner and opting for doing something to prevent his brother from becoming a lump of a self-loathing loser, he should have done something as soon as Ichimatsu returned home that day; even if it meant breaking down the bathroom door to see what he was so upset about.

No wonder Ichimatsu hated him, his advice for the younger probably messed things up far more for him at the time.

And Kara thought that he was a good brother? He was being to doubt...

"Karamatsu-Niisan."

Karamatsu lifted out of slumped position and looked at Jyushimatsu who wasn't smiling at all now, which always meant that he was genuinely concerned, disappointed, or worried. "Yes Jyushimatsu." He tried to say in a more positive manner but failed completely, his voice came out a little shaken.

"He's going to get sick."

"Ah, right." Karamatsu said softly while wiping his eyes. "Sorry my little Jyushi, lets get it on him and get some rest ourselves."

"Aye." Jyushi said with a small smile returning to his lips. "Niisan? Are you okay? You hurt too?"

Karamatsu forced a grin and shrugged off his sloppy posture. "Of course not, I was just thinking... back to the old days. Say Jyushimatsu?"

"Aye."

"I need you to listen to me very carefully okay, and this time I am very serious." He said gravely with the expression to match, Jyushimatsu dropped his smile again and looked on at his brother with seriousness. "Please Jyushi, please; actually promise me. Promise me that you will not say anything about the wound okay? To NOBODY. Not to Choromatsu, not to Osomatsu, not to Ichimatsu either; definitely not to him. Understand?"

There was no response for a long second.

"Jyushi?"

"But he still needs help."

The elder brother placed a hand on the fifth's shoulder and sighed, he wished he could do more. "I know that, but Ichimatsu will probably be very mad if we do; he probably doesn't even want us to help him tend to it. Or even know about it. Just don't talk about it at all."

"But why?"

This was... difficult to say the least, trying to get a form of understanding in this situation was no easy task for the younger. He knew he couldn't tell is dear younger brother why Ichi was probably keeping the wound, it would hurt him to know that his brother was wanting to die. It hurt Karamatsu the most knowing that he couldn't do anything about it yet. "You know Ichi right?" The younger nodded. "You also know that he almost never asks for help right?" Jyushi nodded again. "Same concept, he wants to do everything on his own. He'll kill us if 'we' try."

"But-" Jyushi stopped when Karamatsu put a hand up to his face for a brief moment. 

"It's okay Jyushimatsu, we will help him but only at a place that we can; this is no place to treat him alright? We'll have to find a doctor or someone in the medical feild. So I need you to PROMISE me that you will say nothing of this, nothing at all about Ichimatsu's wound okay? I'll have a talk with him first thing in the morning about it, if we have to discuss it with our brothers then we will; but for now I need to hear you promise, please? Just this once listen to me and keep quiet."

Jyushimatsu nodded. "I promise Niisan."

"Good, that's my little Jyushimats." Karamatsu smiled softly as he looked down at his hoodie in hands before glancing over to his sleeping brother. He was bound to lose some more sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've been thinking, I might do a flashback of Ichimatsu's high school days before he adopted his personality and individual self. It'll probably be later in the story and more in depth about the incident that changed him forever. I am not sure if you guys would be interested in reading that, so let me know if you want me to add it later. It's not necessary to the story but it may touch up on Ichimatsu's characterization some.


	5. You're not Shatterproof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [EDIT] Got a new cover in the making! Posted on first chapter, feel free to check it out(it's still incomplete but I wanted to test posting art since I have yet to up until today.) I will update it when it is colored and complete. I might even make small comics of my favorite scenes for future chapters or every chapter if I ever find the time.
> 
> Chapter 5: You're not Shatterproof
> 
> Ichimatsu's pov, it's probably going to seem confusing at first but things should clear up by a quarter of the chapter. The cover to my story has some significance in this chapter, can you spot it?
> 
> [Edit] Here's something I drew up today for the chapter! A visual scene with a little color.

Ichimatsu curled into himself more, pulling his legs against him tightly; the sounds of loud explosions and blazing fire far above made it difficult to fall back to sleep. Actually, the very rock wall he leaned against had lightly vibrated by the thrashings of the surface; it was harsh enough to shake even this far down, which may be at least seven or eight stories down into the earth. What annoyed him the most though was his stupid brothers sleeping throughout the whole thing soundly, Jyushimatsu he could understand and maybe even Osomatsu but Choromatsu is the lightest sleeper so he should have been up and running around in circles and panicking as he usually would in this kind of situation. Karamatsu would have probably woke up too and Todomatsu if he was here. So why did it have to be him to sit and listen to the sounds of destruction?

Ichimatsu narrowed his eyes and huffed silently to himself. What in the hell is causing this apocalyptic bullshit anyways? It was nothing like all of the stupid stuff his brothers listed earlier, seriously; how can waves of light cause explosions? Doesn't make any sense but then again, him and his brothers have seen and been through the impossible so this chaos really shouldn't come as a surprise. But it did take away something most precious to them, their family home and parents within. His feline friend too.

He missed that cat terribly, he hoped it didn't suffer a painful death. He could have hoped that but with a fire and the lightshow from above, the probability was small. He found himself biting the inside of his cheek, the pain kept his attention away from his bitter thoughts and yet it was not enough to fully distract him. He should sleep, maybe that would help?

He could be resting his eyes now and hopefully die in his sleep, if he was lucky enough that is.

Truth was though, he hadn't slept since; well for a while now. He needed rest but getting even a simple cat nap was apparently too difficult to get with so much on his mind. Not that he would admit it aloud, but having his brothers either missing in these conditions or lying in this hole was not a comforting thought and he was a little worried with the unnatural forces ravaging the earth's surface. There was no concern for himself of course, he wouldn't mind if one of the burning trees fell into the chasm and crushed him.

"It's an easy way out huh?"

"It would be." Ichimatsu blinked after his reply, the voice came seemingly out of nowhere and sounded like... himself? But he didn't speak that first part. He looked t his right when something shifting a bit at his side, his eyes lightly widened but he was more confused than afraid. There beside him was... himself leaning against the wall like he was. 'What the hell?' This Ichimatsu looked a little different than his current self, although a tad bit darker in fabric color and his skin was slightly paler. His eyes were more relaxed and dull in color; he basically looked like shit with his hoodie and pants scuffed up with a few loose threads here and there. His hair was much more frayed and unkempt, oily and ruffled as if Osomatsu had ground his knuckles over the guy's head way to many times. But what took him by surprise the most was those orbs looking over at him with little interest, they reflected a loneliness and pain that even Ichi himself could barely comprehend; eyes that were more distant and darker than his. This doppelganger of his even had a darker, bitter, and more colder aura about him, like some shitty future version of himself that went through the toilet of society and was pushed back up to the surface because not even hell wanted him.

"If you're wondering... I am you." Was what the Ichi look-alike said, his tone as bland and original as Ichimatsu's. "Don't be surprised by how I look or why I'm here, it's not going to effect you."

"Eh?" Ichi raised a brow for a long moment before letting it fall and moving his gaze back to the spot before his feet. "Are you some future 'shittier' version of myself? I know I'm trash but, you look like you've been through hell and a landfill."

"No, well sort of, but no. Only half right; the shitty part I mean." He replied simply. "So, you were hoping to fall to your death huh? Too bad, I suppose you'll have to keep on going until you croak some other way."

"Yeah. Say, why are you here? Or how?"

"Hmmm?" The darker Ichimatsu glanced back over at his counterpart and wrapped his arms around his legs.

"As a reminder?"

"I suppose, but it wouldn't matter. I am you after all and I understand how you feel and what's running through your head right now; the world's gone to shit and life for you and your brothers is going too soon enough. Dying definitely would be a way out of it, but you don't feel the same way when it comes to them." He tilted his chin up and lightly gestured to the sleeping forms by the small unattended fire. "I know. As you, I'm a cowardly, shitty, and confident-less piece of trash that has no will to live; no desire to move on when there's no bright or even slightly lighted future waiting for me. We know that there's nothing but plenty of struggles ahead, no reason to exist and of no use to anyone. But you however; you have the power to decide that for yourself. What happens from here, from this spot."

Ichimatsu narrowed his eyes a bit. Of course the copy of him was right, but about the power to do what exactly? He lifted his chin off of his knees and blinked when the clone stood up and walked a few feet away from him; he stared up at the smoky opening of the chasm and watched as small flecks of burning ashes floated down like snow. "What do you mean?"

"I am you, but I'm not the real you; just a shitty reminder of what you really are and what you'll always be. Let's say that I'm not your better half, yeah; that's how we should put it. There's no hope in being any use to our brothers, we've become a nuisance and soon enough; a burden." The darker Ichi took his gaze away from the ashen-colored sky and turned to face his counterpart, the real Ichi showed a bit of anger but that's only because he spoke the truth and didn't like it; but there was no denying it either so they both really should feel like shit. "That wound you have... it's the pain; the bother, they'll know about it soon enough."

Ichimatsu clicked his tounge. "Tch, like I would tell them." He affronted. "It would be best if they don't know."

"But they 'will' know, and maybe some before others." Dark Ichi countered while pocketing his hands in his hoodie pouch, his frown deepened. "You know how much they pry into our business; especially Kusomatsu-niisan and Choromatsu-niisan, the others may go on without as much concern but those two will definitely figure it out."

"Not if I don't let them." Ichi looked away with a scoff.

"You can't hide it forever; it'll eventually take it's toll. You'll soon feel weaker, bleed out some, get sick even, just suffering as infected blood strings throughout your veins. Then death. It's pretty obvious leaving a wound like that alone without attention."

"Shut up." He spat.

"You know I'm telling the truth, the wound will worsen..."

"And I'll die like I should."

"That's the thing." The darker Ichi approached the real one and grinned faintly. "Remember when I said that you have the power to decide, the power to end it?" He watched as the grounded Matsuno brother nodded with confusion. "You do want to die right? To leave your burdensome self behind so that your brothers can get out of here and be on their way? No more struggles, hardships, ... living with this awful feeling of uselessness? So that you don't have to continue to be the grime that sticks to the bottom of the shoes of humanity?" He chuckled lightly and swayed his head back and forth a few times, Ichi's face clearly showed that his shady self was right. "It'll be really easy and you'll not only be doing yourself a favor but also a favor to your brothers, humanity, ha even the world." He paused when Ichimatsu looked up at him with surprise hidden behind his half lidded eyes, he showed genuine interest but also a bit of fear. "You still have that branch in your side right?" The other Ichimatsu carefully placed a hand over the spot. "Then just grab it and push it in deeper, hit your vitals and just lie down and sleep. The pain will be immense at first but it won't last for long, it's so easy and quick. You'll die like you want and your brothers will not have to worry about you anymore. Simple right?"  
Ichimatsu felt a cold chill climb down his spine as he stared into the eyes of himself, the shittier self; it was what he wanted and yet... no he needed to do this. However...

There was hesitance.

He lifted up his hoodie and glanced down at the wooden beam jutting out of his flesh, blood had already dried around the stick. It was thick enough to do some real damage and sharp since it pierced him in the first place when a tree was splintered from the explosion. Ichimatsu wrapped his fingers at the base of the wood; he immediately felt a sharp sting, strong enough to make him wince and tear up when he moved it just a little by accident. Even holding it was painful.

"You'll be doing us a favor, one that will benefit everyone." The doppelganger said with a more serious and relaxed tone of voice. "Do it, we'll leave them behind; they don't need us. Our brothers don't need us." His eyes were hidden in shadow as he looked down at the ground when Ichimatsu couldn't do anything but grit his teeth and gaze at his one-way-out solution. "Why the reluctance? What's there to lose? You don't realize how much we need to go, everything will get better if we do. I promise. So do it."

Even with the darker Ichi encouraging him to kill himself Ichimatsu had qualms about progressing further, sweat beads lined his face and his breath quickened. It was so difficult, he was struggling and yet he couldn't even understand why. He was trash, dispensable even! There was times when he would have thrown his life away for a worthy cause and yet the opportunity never fully arrived, nor could he dive right into the fray of death for some reason or another. Ichimatsu closed his eyes and let his tears stream freely down his face, he was disappointed and pissed off at himself, he was all talk with no audacity. Osomatsu was the one with the gall but not him. Er. So useless! He has nothing to live for so why not do it? Or why now actually? He didn't feel mentally prepared for this, there's not been enough time to actually think on it though he had thought of dying many times before. It wasn't the pain that he was afraid of. "Wouldn't it be easier to just let myself kill over? I can keep the wound longer, long enough until it kills me."

"Tch, and be a burden to them? We know that we can't do much of anything but be in the way." The Ichi copy turned his head to face his brothers. "It'll be slow and painful if you just wait for an infection to kill you; plus you'll have them pour useless and wasteful efforts just to keep your ass up. A shameful encumbering dumb ass. Why wait?"

Damn he had a point, he should have known. Well, maybe if he...

"It's pointless to continue to make excuses for yourself, we both know that. There shouldn't be any hesitation so why?!" His voice grew louder and his expression tensed up and darkened, his hands were now out of his hoodie pockets and balled up into fists.

Ichimatsu looked over at his brothers resting soundly. "But they- and Jyushima-"

"Who cares what they think? What they'd feel? They don't know that losing us would be for the better, they're dumb as hell. Jyushimatsu has four other brothers that'll take care of him; Karamatsu-niisan is also pretty fond of him and will be there for him. Now is not the time to worry about what they'd think or want, keeping the wound is only going to make things worse and we know that is not what you want."

"I- I just can't." Ichimatsu swallowed, hand still on the branch and faintly shaking.

"Errr... This is why I hate you and why you hate me!" He barked with a toothy indignant frown. "We hate ourselves. Such failures, as always. Don't even have the confidence to kill ourselves off."

"I can't, not yet." Ichimatsu replied more softly.

"Still hoping to be of any use? Forget it."

Ichimatsu blinked when he saw Karamatsu and Choromatsu beginning to stir and shift around, the second eldest actually lifted up off of the ground and rubbed his eyes before proceeding to yawn and stretch his arms up and over his head. He was smiling as usual when he woke up from a good sleep.

"Tch, ridiculous. You care deeply for them even if you are low-key about it, but we both know what's for the best. Why fight or delay it?" The Ichimatsu copy sighed heavily and his shoulders sank more in defeat as the real Ichi put his hoodie back down and bought his kneecaps back up to his chin with his arms wrapping around legs. A small grin formed on the counterpart's lips. "The pain will last longer then, if that's the choice then so be it. Heh, even now I'm too much of a coward to end everyone's misery; including my own." He shrugged with minimum effort and turned away. "I suppose that even as the shittier self I would struggle like this too, talking is so much easier than taking action.

Ugh.

Oh well.

Maybe you still care... just a little too much... but you're not shatterproof, remember that."

And with that the doppelganger of Ichimatsu dispersed into wisps of pitch black and purple and drifted into the air before fading out.

Choromatsu was the next to sit up, he rubbed his eyes and grumbled as he stretched his back with both hands, he was the first to look Ichimatsu's way. "Oh you're awake Ichi, are you feeling any better or at least sociable today?" He asked groggily.

Ichimatsu decided to nod instead of responding with words, he kept his face turned away some as he attempted to wipe away the sweat and tears from his face. He'd be a laughing stock if they caught him crying over nothing of their concern.

"Morning bruaza." Karamatsu turned around and flashed him a grin while doing that stupid hand-thing he normally does; one of his signature painful lame hand pose.

"Morning already?!" Jyushimatsu immediately sat up and looked around, wide awake like he hadn't slept at all.

"Yes Jyushi." Choromatsu looked over at Osomatsu with a sour expression, his bottom lip hung out slightly. "Always the last to get out of bed, or in this case just the last to wake up." He shook Oso's shoulder but the eldest brother wouldn't budge, his expression deadpanned. "Always."

Ugh. Ichimatsu was not happy about his brothers waking up so unexpectedly, he wanted some time to think to himself after a talk with- well himself; as crazy as it sounded in his head. But being the unlucky fourth born was what he was used to bad luck, he was used to the devil's karma always riding his tail and getting him at the worst of times because that's how it's always been. It wasn't so bad when he was younger but now he had a spiteful cloud hanging around that was ready to ruin his day like usual or just inconvenience him and piss him off to no end.

"Niisan!"

Jyushi hollered at him, he could see his younger sibling waving his arms at him from the corner of his eyes; he should respond back some way but found himself ignoring the younger. It wasn't really a choice, he was sulking to himself and needed space for just a little bit longer. 'Maybe later Jyushi.' He thought to himself.

"Niisan! NIISAAAANNNN!" He yelled louder and flailed his arms about like a maniac. "Ichi-nii, lets pinch Osomatsu-niisan's toes together! It'll be fun." He enticed with a light and mischievous tone.

"Lets." Choromatsu's expression darkened with a nasty grin while he made a pinching gesture with his index finger and thumb. "It'll be pay back for all of those times he pinched me when I was trying to sleep or read. You guys can have the toes, I'll go for the ankle and Achilles tendon."

"Well my bruazas, allow me too; I wish to partake in our bonding moments." Kara beamed deviously while readying his fingers.

Ichimatsu couldn't help but find a smile form on his face; albeit it was a small one but one no less. He loved to pester his brothers; often times they would deserve some form of punishment, plus it was just downright fun. He supposed he could at least do this, it might even make him feel better. "Okay." He muttered quietly and moved over onto his knees before standing up, his face was dry and he wasn't sweating anymore.

"Aye niisan!" Jyushimatsu laughed and he gathered around Osomatsu as the other two brothers did. "Hurry before he wakes."

"I'm coming. I'm coming." Ichimatsu softly grumbles, a devilish grin found it's way on his face. He took two steps and immediately stopped.

The ground suddenly shuttered underneath his feet and a loud crack could be heard from above along with an resounding explosion. It felt like an earthquake trying to knock them off of their heels, the walls around them began to crack from the feverish quake. Everyone looked up gaped with fright as an even louder crack tore their attention away from the chasm walls, small chips of stone fell as well as dust from a large gap above. A huge chuck of rock and dirt then broke away from the surface and plummeted down towards them, it's sheer size and wide shape cast a dark shadow over them. His brothers shouted and attempted to dart away as the shadow over them grew, there was little time to move.

Osomatsu had just woken up but he was too dazed and tired to move, he even ignored his brother yelling at him and trying to get him to wake up. Choro then tried to drag him away but could not move fast enough, the both ended up crying out when the rock came down upon them.

Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu was running but Kara shoved his younger brother away as the debris came down all too swiftly to avoid; droplets of tears escaped his face in his forceful push in attempts to save at least one of his brothers. Choromatsu, Osomatsu, and Karamatsu had completely disappeared underneath the massive rock and clouds of dust, there was no time to escape it. Jyushi was partially clipped by the edge, dirt and small pebbles were all over him; his yellow was now a dingy brown. Most of his right and left leg were pinned but he was alive and screaming like he was being stabbed to death, his yellow hoodie began to soak up crimson.

At first he couldn't blink, nor take in a breath.

"Niisan, help!"

His world froze, what just happened? He couldn't move.

"Niisan!"

Ichimatsu found himself stumbling backwards and tripping back to fall on his rear end, he shuttered and gaped with wide eyes and light huffs coming from his lips. His hand was reaching out but he couldn't get up, his brothers were dead. Dead. It should have been him.

"Why damn it!" He screamed to himself. This pain was much worse.

Why couldn't it have been him when he was the one that wanted it most?

"NIIIIIIISSSSSSAAAANNNNNNN!"

...

Ichimatsu's eyes shot open and he gasped heavily to himself, he blinked and focused his vision on his surroundings and sighed in relief when he saw that he was still in his place of the chasm and his brothers were close by still sleeping and safe.

It was just a dream, he told himself. Just a dream, no nightmare.

"Just a damn dream." He whispered and ran a hand through his hair with his eyes shutting for a long moment as he caught his breath.  
Ichi sighed again and leaned his head back against the chasm wall, it seemed so real; everything.

Good thing it wasn't.

What a pain.

He had woken with a cold sweat but now with his heart slowing it's rapid pace and air filling his lungs his body was beginning to settle down from his frantic high, he felt rather comfortable and warm, hot almost despite the short but chilly night. Why even the morning frost avoided his toes, his feet wasn't cold at all like they were earlier. But that couldn't be right, he was supposed to be soaked to the bone the last he remembered, his pants and briefs were a little damp but not his upper torso oddly. Ichi looked down at his sleeves to see them completely dry, his mouth dropped and a bead of sweat moved down the side of his face when he noticed that the article of clothing was blue instead of purple like it was supposed to be. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things or if he had mistaken the color as he fully awoke; but it was still blue, the shade of vibrant indigo that his brother wore.

Ichimatsu lifted his arms and felt his surprised expression fall, there was no doubt about it; Shittymatsu had changed his out with Ichi's own. That damn painful brother of his. He growled lowly to himself and crossed his arms with slightly narrowed eyes. How dare he, Ichimatsu never asked for help and nor did he want it; he definitely did not want pity either. Disgusting Karamatsu was, being Mr. Noble and the appropriate 'big brother'. "Tch." And for what? Attention? Or did he actually care? Bleh, even if he does then it's wasted effort on his half; he certainly didn't want to wear Karamatsu's clothes anymore. Even now he was likely going to get a mouthful from his brothers, what an embarrassment. Just one time a while ago was enough to bring Ichimatsu an everlasting shame that was thankfully only witnessed by a confused Osomatsu; who disregarded the accident and promised not to say anything. Ichi's own curiosity got the better of him then, he liked how the style looked, he even thought it was cool though he wouldn't ever admit aloud. Someone as painful as Karamatsu made it look cool. He just wanted to see if it made himself feel as good as it looked, or feel better than how he normally felt.

It did but alas for a very short while. Though, there was not an overly amount of satisfaction, but it was more self-appreciation than he normally felt in his own shitty clothes. Right, there's like no self-gratification in anything he usually wears. Karamatsu could pull off the cool look better and he hated the fact though they were twins, freaking two of the same six faces. It was that grin and the way his eyes shined, that brightly glowing self-confidence shining through that Ichimatsu greatly envied and admired.

The fourth brother paused after that thought and then paled some, Ichimatsu swallowed back bike that threatened to climb up to the top of his throat; a nasty smell flooded his nostrils and fluid burned his esophagus. Oh, he felt like he was going to throw up thinking that he could envy and commend his dumb brother; and the fact that Kara's jacket and bad boy getup was in fact a cool fashion. At the same time though he couldn't stand the Painfulmatsu ruining the fashion with his tough-guy cool-guy act. It's seriously painful and totally him.

Speaking of wearing his brother's clothes...

The hoodie... it was also worn by his older brother and still even smelled of expensive cologne that has often been doused in the stuff, no wonder the stinky water in this hole could wash away or hide the strong smell. Ichi was going to have to bathe for weeks to get the overpowering scent off of his skin now. 'Damn you Karamatsu-niisan.' Ichimatsu cursed with narrowed eyes. He was half tempted to rip the blue fabric right at that moment since it belonged to Karamatsu and represented everything that was the annoying brother.

His gaze at nothing in particular softened. ...

But at the same time, it was dry and it was warm and it was clean-ish. Biting back the thought of who it belonged to, he wrapped his arms over his torso and drank up the warmth it offered. He pulled his knees closer to his body and blinked when he felt a more fuzzier texture underneath his feet than that of a flat plastic kind. Ichimatsu looked over his knees and stared at the yellow slippers that covered his toes, they were Jyushi's. 'Jyushimatsu.' He couldn't find it in himself to get mad at his younger sibling, Jyushi always liked helping others; even if he sometimes failed or made things worse. Now he knew what the fifth born did to help out when he told Kara he wanted to assist him earlier.

Ichi suddenly didn't feel too pissed off at his older brother, he was just looking out for him although he's wasting his time. 'Meddling idiot.' Ichimatsu thought to himself. He squeezed his arms around his waist when a small draft blew across his shoulder from the darker end of the ravine, but as he did he felt a bolt of pain shoot from his side all the way up to his right arm and down to his left leg and foot; the pain made him stiffen and yelp aloud. 'Oh shit, how could I have possibly forgot...' He winced and then blinked with his mouth falling agape when he looked over at his brothers to see if he had awoken them from his cry. His eyes widened some when his gaze fell on a sleeping Karamatsu, the older brother and the others thankfully did not stir from their sleep like he had in his dream-nightmare whatever it was.

"He knows." Ichimatsu whispered to himself with multiple droplets of sweat rolling down his face. Dread settling in. 'He knows, damn it.' The other Ichi wasn't kidding when he said it would be soon before they found out. His tone was obviously pained and his side throbbed strongly to his dismay from the movements. Ichimatsu looked down at the side of his stomach and peeled the blue fabric up when he saw a deep crimson blotch forming on the blue, the color of the fabric looked more purple from the mix of the primary colors. He rolled it up to see the impaled wood chunk still there, he expected it to still be there and it still was fortunately. He let the fabric fall back over his exposed flesh and seethed to himself as he folded his arms higher over his chest, he just caused himself to bleed again and the pain had intensified past the point that it did when he was first hit by the broken branch shooting through the air. It hurt like hell when it struck him, now that burning sensation was twice as bad, and it was his fault this time around.

Ichimatsu heavily sighed and grumbled to himself, Karamatsu's hoodie was a little tighter on him than his own; Ichi purposely stretched his to make it more comfortable. It was that space that kept a blood splotch from forming, it was also the loosened fabric that hid the hole from the impalement with it's wrinkles. But Karamatsu's blue hoodie was not going to hide his problem like his purple one did, he needed to get out of it soon and come up with some excuse should his brothers find the purple patch now growing larger.

What an annoyance, blood seeped into the waistband of his pants and pooled along the stretchy bands creating a warm and sticky feeling. It was uncomfortable and disgusting. Seriously, why couldn't Jyushi just let him drown? Why didn't Kara just leave him at the bottom of the nasty pool and suffocate on the filthy water and thick mud that ensnared him? The fool almost drowned himself trying to find him in the murky and stinky crud, they both would have died if Jyushi had not been there to fish them out.

A loud yawn pulled Ichi away from his thoughts, he looked back over at his brothers to see Karamatsu sitting upright and stretching with Choromatsu groggily rubbing his eyes and griping about the pain in his lower back. Something about them waking up the way they did made Ichimatsu nervous enough to sweat bullets, first was Karamatsu then Choromatsu. And as fate would have it Jyushimatsu sat straight up with his usual big smile while looking around.

Karamatsu turned around after stretching his arms, he lightly smiled at Ichimatsu; seeming pretty happy about helping out and probably the fact that Ichi was still alive and kicking. "Morning bruaza. Did you sleep well?"

Wait... that didn't happen in his dream. Where was Karamatsu's stupid grin and hand pose?

"Morning already?!"

"Yes Jyushi. Choromatsu patted his ruffled hair down and looked up towards the sky, he didn't seem to show any concern. "Actually, it's probably ten... maybe eleven o'clock. It's hard to tell since there seems to be an overcast. It could rain soon."

Ichimatsu felt his nervousness shrink some when he looked up and gazed at the sky. There was a few thin rays of sunshine peeking through large puff white clouds, no fires blazing or heavy grey smoke hovering in the air and making it hazy; he could even see a little greenery hanging partially over the cliff faces. Then that meant everything was fine, for now. His frown deepened as he looked back at his covered arms. 'Well at least the same incident won't repeat itself but still, now I have to deal with Karamatsu-niisan and the embarrassment he brought me. Tch.' He thought dryly with his eyebrow twitching.

"Niisan!"

His eyes glance over to see Jyushimatsu waving his arms around as if he was trying to get his attention, he wasn't wearing his slippers but at least he still had his socks on.

With that shout Osomatsu woke up and sat up with a pained grunt, his hair was really messed up in the back but he paid no mind as he covered his mouth and yawned loudly. "Ugh, who's shouting this early in the morning?" He asked with an bored tone, irritancy was on his features. "Is that you Jyushi? It's too early for that."

"It's late morning Osomatsu-niisan. Time to get up, we still need to find a way out of this hole."

"What we need- is something to eat, I'm starving." He groaned, now scratching his side and patting down his bedhead with hardly any effort.

"Niisan!"

"Huh?" Both him and Choromatsu looked over at Jyushi before turning their gazes towards the person their little brother was waving to, their eyes widened slightly.  
Ichimatsu quietly seethed to himself and attempted to hide his face in the sleeves, so painful it was to be looked at with a hoodie that belonged to Kara around him. It did not help at all that Karamatsu waved at him too, motioning him to come over and join them. Okay, so maybe now he wanted to die? The pain in his side told him otherwise. 'Why me?' He dreaded and just waited for his other brothers to speak up, probably say something he doesn't want to hear. 'Shittymatsu, I'll kill you for this.' He thought to himself.

"Ichimatsu-" Oso began.

Ichimatsu avoided the elder brother's gaze, here it comes.

"You're still over there? What the hell?" Osomatsu narrowed his eyes a bit then looked away with disinterest. Ichi was not expecting that to come from his older brother's mouth, he was ready for ridicule or laughter. Or both. "You cant avoid us forever, we're your brothers, just come over here already; you're starting to look emo." He casual waved his hand lazily. "I'm sure you've had plenty of time to vent steam by now. Ouch! Hey what was that for?!" Oso barked when Choro smacked him on the back of his head, the eldest sibling rubbed the pained spot with an expression of annoyance.

"Don't call him emo, he's clearly a normie, remember?"

"Normie?" Karamatsu questioned with a lifted brow and curiosity peeked; it showed on his facial expression.

"Oh right." Osomatsu corrected himself and rubbed a finger under his nose with a big grin. "I almost completely forgot about that. It's nothing Karamatsu, he's just not as dark and vile as he says he is. And-" The older went stiff when he saw a glare cast his way. "Nope, it's really nothing." He finished more nervously. "Don't ask, he'll kill ya." He laughed to himself.

"You can come over here if you want to Ichimatsu, we're trapped in this hole together you know."

The fourth born was taken aback, did his other brothers not notice the blue hoodie? Or yellow slippers? Have they yet to see the patch of blood? His rigid body loosened and his tense muscles relaxed, the nervousness remained however. Ichimatsu's surprised expression fell, apparently they didn't care that he was wearing Karamatsu's hoodie; which was a good thing. They often ignore the second born so maybe it's hard to discern that he's wearing Painfulmatsu's clothing, or they really just don't give a damn. Ichimatsu clicked his tounge but moved to stand up anyway and he ambled towards his brothers, his steps were slow and his movements cautious but not overly so. He made sure to do his best in hiding the pain behind his normal deflated expression, other than that everything seemed normal between his brothers. Good thing Totty wasn't around, if anyone would point out the fact that he was wearing a different hoodie then it would be the youngest of the sextuplets. He'd have much to say too. Damn him.

"Wait, actually." Choromatsu spoke up.

Karamatsu stood up when Ichimatsu got closer to the fire. "Hold on brother."

"I need to have a word with you!" Karamatsu and Choromatsu said in unison. They both then looked at each other with blank faces. "Alone." They both mimicked at the same time as if on the same page of the situation.

Ichimatsu went stiff again, Choromatsu had looked back over at him with a concerned look in his eyes. 'Could it be that he knows too?!' Ichimatsu grit his teeth and did his best to hide his shock. He wouldn't know, he can't unless-. Anger then boiled up in the place of surprise and Ichimatsu felt his hands coil tightly in his palms. Maybe that's why Osomatsu and Choromatsu didn't say anything about the hoodie, Karamatsu must have exposed him in his sleep and told them about it. Maybe that's why they all seemed to be a little more friendly than usual this morning.

He swore, if Karamatsu told then he was going beat his brother's face in and drown him.

Karamatsu was the first the back down, he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned. "Oh, so you need to speak with Ichi too?" Kara threw a hand to his face and partially hid it with his fingers in a specific pose. "How... unexpected." He flashed a toothy grin before placing his hands on his hips, he noticed that Choromatsu, Ichimatsu, and Osomatsu deadpanned from his painful display but his smile did not fall. "You can go first buraza."

"Eh." Choromatsu waved him off. "No you, I have much to discuss with Ichi."

Kara swayed an index finger back and forth. "Non non, you can go first bruaza; I insist for I have much to discuss about as well."

The third born would have took the offer and got the talk done and over with if it weren't for the fact that it was Karamatsu, he knew that Kara and Ichi were not on the best of terms but seeing his younger brother in the elder brother's hoodie made him wonder if the two had put their issues behind them for now. Plus if Ichi went out on Kara then he'd have more scolding to do and proof that Ichimatsu is too much of a hot head for Kara's teasing though they be of the lighthearted kind. There may not be a fire overhead but that doesn't mean that it's safe up on the surface; some kind of apocalypse could still be underway and his brothers needed to get along and help each other survive, they needed unity and cooperation.

"No, just go on; I kind of forgot what I needed to talk about." He said with a feigned smile and kicked the ground absentmindedly.

"You forgetting? So unlike you Fappyski."

Choro turned around and smacked Osomatsu on the head again which earned him another yap and complaint.

Karamatsu blinked but smiled again. "Ah, very well then." He turned towards Ichi and the fourth born narrowed his eyes. "Let's take a small walk just over here and..." He paused when Ichimatsu was already heading back to his spot. "That'll do my bruaza." He walked away from his brothers and walked to stand in the place that he and Jyushimatsu did when they helped out their hardheaded brother. He lifted a finger and was just about to speak when a hand wrapped around his windpipe roughly, he yelped when he was swung back against the wall. He opened his eyes to see a dark gaze piercing his own orbs, that familiar darkness rising out of the depths of Ichi's soul.

"Who did you tell."

Karamatsu blinked from the puzzling question, it sounded threatening; a little too threatening than he's familiar with when it comes to Ichimatsu. He gulped and swayed his head back and forth with an anxious smile. "I told no one buraz-ah!" Two hands were now on his jugular and squeezing.

Ichi's eyes quickly shoot over to the three brothers, checking to see if they were watching them; thankfully Choro and Oso were bantering while Jyushi drew in the dirt with a stick. Perfect. "Who else knows about my wound? Who?!" He shouted absentmindedly and immediately released Kara when his other brothers looked over at them. He turned away from them and scowled while crossing his arms, his desperation and anger was getting the better of him and fast. Now was not the time for Shittymatsu to play around with him and beat around the bush. "Well?" He questioned darkly.

The second eldest brought a hand up to rub at his neck and he lifted himself away from the wall a bit did not want to look like he was fighting with his brother; the was the last thing he wanted to avoid. He hated fighting with his siblings but sometimes he couldn't help himself and he needed to be assertive to get his point across or show how serious he was and in this situation he was serious. His tensed grin fell and he whispered. "Don't worry my dear Ichimatsu. Only our dear Jyushimatsu knows."  
'Seriously?! Jyushimatsu!?' Ichimatsu shook and his fingers twitched, that was the last person that needed to know.

"What!?" Ichi barked and was half tempted to strangle his brother or attempt to if Choromatsu and Osomatsu hadn't been watching them still. "He's the one that I didn't want to know the most of out of you guys!" He shouted in a quieter voice. "Do you even know how well he can keep a secret?"

"Not really?" The older defended though he had a general idea now that he thought about it. His expression fell and he grew cold with a matching expression when he remembered the pachinko incident and how having his little brother keep his secret made him blow a head gasket. "Oh." He replied lightly but recovered his skittish grin. He did keep the secret though but not without some form of punishment. He prayed that Jyushi wouldn't even think about the secret.

"He's going to babble on aloud about this you- stupid Kosumatsu!" The second born shrank back against the wall some, frowning as if scolded.

"He just wanted to help, actually, I didn't notice it until he pointed it out; so he was the one to tell me." He defended respectfully.

"... I didn't want anyone to know! Damn it." He cursed and looked away from Kara who was now gazing at him with a faltering expression; as if he had forgotten something and just remembered it. "Now they'll all find out." He said more quietly. "This is not what I wanted, I was supposed to just fade out."

He noticed one of Karamatsu's hands folding in on itself into a fist from the corner of his eye, he was also shuttering a bit. Why? He didn't care.

"No one needs to know. Not you, not Osomatsu-niisan, not Choromatsu-niisan, and definitely not Jyu-"

With that thought Karamatsu narrowed his own eyes thinly and moved fast, a burst of rage surged through him and he couldn't hold it back no more.

"Shi-"Ichimatsu was taken aback when Karamatsu pushed himself from the wall and clamped his hands over his shoulders with a tight but careful grasp, Ichi's eyes widened as he was forcibly swung around and into the chasm wall and made an 'oof' sound when his spine contacted with the hard stone. He felt a wetness from in the corner's of his eyes when the back of his head also impacted the wall, a slight fear slowly grew across his features. What in the hell was with the three-sixty all of the sudden? Karamatsu was an easy pushover and punching bag; almost never rough with his brothers when it came to arguments. Though there has been times when he's stepped up to the plate; either from being pushed way to far or when defending one brother from another. He remembered well when Osomatsu kicked Jyushimatsu when he bumped into him at Choro's going-away party, that was one of the very few times he's ever seen Karamatsu get physical and actually punch the shit out of his brother before taking him outside and yelling loud enough to hear some choice words from behind the sliding door.

Shittymatsu getting this rough meant that he was pretty pissed too, his eyes showed it. Ichimatsu blinked in bewilderment; though those orbs showed rage they also glistened with hints of sorrow and concern.

Karamatsu was practically close to tears?


	6. Can't let go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I've been playing way too much of TOWN OF SALEM (like seriously 2 much), if you know the game and ever see the name pop up before the game starts: 'Ichimatsu' in the list, then it's most likely me because he's my fave and I use his name all of the time and even role-play him some. If you want to add me then my account name is Blackdragon41. I'm on usually about five or six o'clock eastern standard time.
> 
> ^^F U DISGUISER!
> 
> So this chapter is a little slow, but I promise the next chapter will get things up and moving. 
> 
> Surprise! This chapter contains both Karamatsu' POV(first half) and Ichimatsu POV(second half).

"Let go of me Kusomatsu." Ichimatsu glared and clenched onto the wrists that held him in place, surprisingly he was struggling to remove them though he was able to wrench them from side to side a few inches from his face. "I'll kill you for this."

Another 'not so hollow' threat, Karamatsu couldn't even think of it right now, all that he could see in front of him was his younger brother grunting in annoyance and sending looks that could kill his way; his brother struggled in his grasp but he couldn't let Ichi go. Not now. Karamatsu felt his anger recede as he gazed on at a flustered Ichi, he couldn't have stopped himself from moving on impulse when the fourth born said that he just wanted to fade out like he'd go unnoticed. To die and just be left behind as if he was some stranger to his brothers, to just fall on over why everyone keeps walking onward like nothing ever happened. That is something that Karamatsu would believe that would happen to only himself and none of the other brothers since everyone show little regard or even care for him but paid very close attention to each other like they had always been super close. 

Ichimatsu did not share his curse.

He hated feeling jealous.

Kara felt his rage grow again. It wasn't fair! Why should Ichimatsu feel that way when he had brothers who loved him on all sides and all Kara had was distant brothers and nothing but the cold wind at his back trying to constantly knock him over? If there was anything to be jealous of Ichimatsu then it was just that, to be loved and fitting perfectly in place with his all of his brother's in kinship; to belong somewhere with those who loved you. Not this shell of a man who's done everything right in the text books and took extra special steps to earn recognition from the rest of his family, even going great lengths as far as risking life and limb to please those whom he wanted acceptance by. He still fell short, he always fell short when reaching out to his own blood; it's like he barely exists. Is Ichimatsu this blind? To not realize that he is an important piece of the puzzle that is needed to hold the picture perfectly in place? With one piece missing; himself, the puzzle was fragile; with another missing it would easily fall apart, all would crumble. He wanted to be the piece that keeps it all together.

To want to die now would be very selfish of him, Ichi probably wouldn't realize just who he's hurting if he were to go; everyone would miss him and that's more than Karamatsu would ever get if it were him letting himself die. But unlike Ichi who did not yet know his reason of existing in this world, Karamatsu lived to be the protective and supportive older brother; the bodyguard. The forgotten glue that binds the sextuplets together, and the shoulder that the others may lean on. There were other reasons to live of course, his expressed fashion, his Karamatsu girls, things he's never got to experience or see yet, his usefulness to someone out there, and kindness and love that someone desperately needed. Being the supporting tower of his brothers being his favorite job, even if he was nothing in their eyes. Surely Ichimatsu can find a reason too? Even just a small one. Karamatsu felt his eyes water.

It's a shame his younger sibling never moved on from the past, he never let that terrible moment in his life go and now it continues to drag him down with more problems and issues adding on with each passing year. He finds himself so worthless and yet he's valued by so many, why couldn't he see that?!  
Kara felt like Ichi had unconsciously ripped out a vital cord of his heart and purposely stepped on it and ground it in the dirt with his heel; almost as if he was stepping on his own lifeline with disgust while waiting for death to take him.

Has Ichimatsu ever been this... suicidal? This low? Sure the fourth born has said time and time again that he was unburnable trash and even showed hints of wanting death, but it hadn't ever been this up close and obvious up until now and apparently only Karamatsu himself and Jyushimatsu knew. Now he wanted it and was going to let himself go, and for what? Just to be out of the way and not suffer his 'useless' or so he called it... existence? He'd be hurting his five brothers.

Such pain, why did he have to keep it all to himself? Why suffer alone when there's someone right next to him almost over seventy-percent of the time who could share in pain and understand it? One who had his own pain of loneliness? Karamatsu and Ichimatsu were often standing together or close to each other from time to time though they weren't as close as Kara wanted them to be; they even slept side by side and liked it that way; Karamatsu being close to the most distant brother and Ichi having the edge to himself next to someone who didn't mind if he hit or kicked in his sleep or drooled on though it's a rare occurrence from him. Then there's Ichi's nightmares, not often but when they do happen; Karamatsu if he would wake, would pull his brother into his arms and run his fingers through his hair. It almost always calmed the younger down, and if he awoke then he wouldn't say much but nor would he pull away. Kara would never talk about the nightmares or about holding his little Ichi, there was an unspoken trust between the two. Still, even the few and far in between, that was about as much true brotherly bonding as they would have unless they were drunk or even buzzed. They were at many times within arms reach and yet Ichi only would give the cold shoulder and turn him away, jab him, or ignore him; as he's done before. 'Why Ichi?' Karamatsu thought to himself.

The second eldest fought the wetness forming in the corners of his eyes, he might have some power over Ichimatsu at the moment but he couldn't stop the globules of tears from forming; one drop broke free and ran down his cheek creating an irritating itch that he managed to ignore. His brother was more important than that.  
"Holy shit Kara, what the hell?!" He heard Osomatsu shouting at him and Choromatsu who stood there with a guffawed expression; it's hard to believe that anyone of the brothers would get rough with Ichimatsu except for Jyushi, the very concept of doing that was a death wish. The brothers looked on at them with shocked faces. "And you think that me and Ichimatsu fighting is any better? Ha."

"Karamatsu, that's not talking you imbecile!" The third born shouted with worry, he was going to lose an older brother at this rate he thought with a defeated sigh. So much for talking things out.

"Fight fight fight fight!"

Choromatsu looked over at his side to see Osomatsu now chanting and pumping a fist with enthusiasm, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled bill and waved it in the air. "Anyone wanna place a bet? I've got one thousand yen on Ichimatsu socking the shit out of Karamatsu." He winked and waved it at Choro it's all the money I have left, so how about you?" Choromatsu tried his best to ignore though he had a vein popping up on his forehead. "If they wanna go at it then why stop them? Man, Karamatsu must really be pissed off at Ichimatsu."

"Then why not take responsibility as the eldest and stop them you idiot!"

"Puh-lease? Look, if Karamatsu is going to be a hypocrite then he has it coming, he's the one asking me not to get into a fight with Ichi. Now, any bets?"

Jyushi reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out several mahjong pieces and an acorn. "I've got mahjong!" He laughed aloud and threw the pieces up into the air while dancing in place and letting the tiny blocks fall around him.

"You guys are shitty brothers!" Choromatsu screamed in his outburst at the two who ignored his insult, Osomatsu turned back to watching the brothers and Jyushi continued to bounce in place like he was in his own little world.

"Ichi, why didn't you tell us about it?" The second born asked, keeping his voice low enough so that his other brothers couldn't hear, his tone threatened to crack. "Why do you want to keep this secret? Do you really want to die?" He asked with tears were now pouring down his face.

"Tch, and why should I tell you Shittymatsu? It's none of your business so back off." Ichimatsu warned with a dark look in his eyes, he narrowed them further when Kara ignored his threat once again; Karamatsu dismissing his words of warning was starting to piss the purple-mastu off and fast. He growled lowly when the grasp on his shoulders tightened, Kara was at unease by his death glare but still held on.

'Really? That's all you can say?!' Karamatsu almost couldn't believe it, but he did kind of figure that Ichi would try and keep his injury to himself since he had no care for his own wellbeing. Still, it hurt to think that Ichimatsu was just going to go on and let himself die because he wasn't worth... no him and his brothers were everything to Karamatsu; even if they did ignore and dislike him for his painfulness and kindness. "This is very serious Ichimatsu my brother, how did this even happen?" He glanced down at the large red blotch.

He didn't feel obligated to answer and nor was he being forced to, and yet he decided to speak up; to give a little information away to hopefully satisfy the annoying brother of his and get him to shut his yap. "One of the first explosions blew up a tree nearby; it splintered apart from the force and a piece got me. There. Now let go of me."

"Ah. That makes sense." Kara replied with a nod, it seemed pretty believable but Ichi was not out of the woods yet. "We need to tell the others."

"No!" The younger barked, he growled when his older brother gave him a look that read 'why not?'. "I already told you that I don't want them to know."

"But why?!"

"It doesn't concern you either." He hissed.

"Is it because you don't want to be a burden to us, isn't it?" He hit the nail on the head when Ichi's dangerous expression wavered for a long second then sharpened. Karamatsu trusted his gut when he saw Ichi's temper falter even for the briefest of moments; he knew that this must be one reason as there was also self-loathing that prompted his desire for death. The two pretty much tied into each other, self-hatred and being useless trash. A terrible combination that prodded Ichi closer and closer to the edge, the younger brother had no aspiration in life since his rejection and being cast from the social level. He hasn't been the same since his younger years and every time Karamatsu tried to help his falling brother he was always greeted with assault by Ichimatsu or a very convincing threat. Sometimes... he got lucky with compliance.

"It's more than that Shittymatsu."

'I know.' Kara said to himself with a low sigh escaping him. "That doesn't matter right now brother, we need to do something about your injury fast; it'll get infected and who knows if a bad fall could wors-."

"I said no." Came a venomous reply. "If you know already then just shut up and leave."

Karamatsu lifted his shoulders some and plead. "Then let me carry that burden, I want to; I want to help you. I don't want you to die my dear bruaza." He tried again, not wanting to accept that leaving his sibling in such a condition would ultimately lead him to his demise; doing so would be putting the blame on his own shoulders, he just could not accept that his brother dying or even suffering for a moment longer though he had no power to prevent either.

"I don't need or want your help, I've had enough help from you for a lifetime. Nothing changed with it, things will only got worse if you do now; just let me go already."

"Why do you value your life so little?" His tone came out more shaky than expected but his eyebrows knitted together showing how serious he was about this question. He had to know. He was an older brother; it was his job to protect his younger siblings be there when they needed him most, even if he was loathed or too painful to tolerate. He would be more than honored to carry Ichi's burdensome self.

"Tch," Ichimatsu clicked his tounge and looked away.

"Please say something brother?" He asked in all serious with no painfulness in his words. "You are not worthless. Why can't you see that? Is it because of what happened in junior high wasn't it?" That's when Ichimatsu lost his smile and became more careless day by day, it's when he shut people out and confided in cats who couldn't talk but were friendly to him. It's when Ichimatsu found darkness to reside in.

Something triggered Ichimatsu when he heard that, he pushed Karamatsu off of him with much force which caused the older brother to stumble backwards and fall to his rear end. "Don't ever mention that again Painfulmatsu, I never want to talk or think about it ever." He warned darkly.

Karamatsu blinked before moving his gaze down to the ground, it had hit him; a realization that he wanted so much to deny but always clung to the possibility with guilt that was long buried now resurfacing. "Then it's confirmed, it's my fault after all." He whispered. "I tried to help you confess to your love and-"He was cut off when Ichi reached down and grabbed him by his tank and hauled him to his feet roughly.

"You can't ever shut the hell up can you Shittymatsu?" He said with a scowl. "If you think that you're the only one to blame for that then you're wrong!" The fourth born shouted in a whisper and then felt his hold faltering, moving too roughly and too quickly made the stick in his side shift painfully; he clamped his mouth shut and winced while struggling to maintain his composure. He clenched Karamatsu's face on the tank and squeezed it tightly to keep himself propped up, rage showing in his lightly widened eyes. "You- you don't know anything but you think you do." He grumbled to himself and squeezed the fabric more tightly until his knuckles turned white. "Why don't you fight back eh? Why don't you give me another reason to hate you more?" Those last words came out with much pain attached to them. "Damn it, why don't 'you' say something then?" He hissed as Karamatsu just looked at him with an annoying expression, that 'oh I'm hurt but won't let it bother me' one. 'How can he even tolerate a quarter of the shit he deals with?' Ichimatsu thought to himself, he hated that about Karamatsu so much.

So weak. Letting himself get trampled like a damn doormat with absolutely nothing to gain. Just trash!

His eyes widened more when the throbbing underneath his ribcage picked up in intensity, it was too much to withstand and he felt himself crumpling from the wracking pain; he felt more streams of warm fluid seep and soak through the blue hoodie. It was a miracle that throwing a hand over his mouth kept back the pained wail that wanted to escape his lips. In doing so he had let go of the tank and found himself going down until an are outstretched and wrapped around his wrist, Ichimatsu grunted in pain when Karamatsu pulled him back up and propped him up against himself; using his arm underneath Ichimatsu's to help support his standing posture. "What in the h...hell are you doing?" The purple-matsu glared at the elder brother, it almost looked like he was in a semi-hug and that was not going to settle with him. A small yelp escaped him when he tried to pull away, bad idea.

"Stop moving Ichi, you're going to hurt yourself more." Kara protested and kept a firm grip.

"Hey, are you guys fighting or hugging this out?!"

Osomatsu's voice brought both boys to reality and Ichimatsu's face paled some.

That was pretty embarrassing.

Kara quickly swung them around until their backs were facing the brothers, he let Ichi wobble out of his grasp and back away some; but not without a careful watch to catch him if he started falling again. "Punch me in the nose, if you can."

"Huh?" It wasn't a bad idea. He would have immediately if it were not for the fact that his brother asked for it, he didn't need a command.

Ichimatsu glared at Karamatsu with a hint of puzzlement; who was faintly smiling at him. Kara imagined that saying this would probably throw his brother in a loop. "Do it."

Ichimatsu relaxed his expression some but it still contained it's irritancy and a small smirk. "You deserve more than a punch to the face niisan. Besides, if you're a masochist then-"

"You're bleeding through my hoodie my dear Ichi, I'll mask it with a nosebleed." The second eldest had to admit it was a pretty smart but pain-inducing plan, but a quick witted one since the crimson spot oh his hoodie was growing to a more noticeable size. He was actually a little proud of himself, Ichimatsu didn't want anyone to know about his injury so why not conceal it for now? He thought of it like an act in a play, a fighting scene reaching a critical point to where the antagonist and the protagonist duke it out for the final time; one last battle to the death. The final blow to end the fight. Seeing his brother with a surprised expression was priceless, he saw confusion and what he thought may be a small hint of gratitude. They both look down at the blood spot, it looked purple in mingling with the blue fabric. What a mark to leave. "Please Ichi, hit hard." 'Hard enough to feel better.' He wished he had the courage to say without making his brother falter. He did deserve it and much more as Ichi had said. Kara's pretty sure Ichimatsu wouldn't ever forgive him for that incident back in high school, so this was somewhat justifiable. A stroke of justice to the guilty fool who had part in his brother's personal downfall and social destruction.

The fourth born shuddered, what was his older sibling getting at? Wasn't he the one that said that he needed to reveal his wound to his brothers? 'Trying to cover my ass clear again?! Damn you! Seriously, what in the hell is with this damn kindness! It's really annoying me!' He thought to himself and balled up his right fist and gnashed his teeth, he shot it right at a grinning face, one ready for the pain. It was almost smug and full of anticipation which fueled him more to strike.

Knuckles impacted Karamatsu's face and the force was strong enough to send his head to the side with a string of crimson flying through the air. A loud cry followed. Karamatsu stumbled backwards a few feet and wrapped his hands around his nose and mouth while whimpering, tears returned to the corners of his eyes but these did not fall, red fluid seeped through the spaces in between his hands and dripped to the ground.

Ichimatsu was still surprised that Karamatsu would even allow him to do that, hitting him actually; made him feel a little bit better. ... Well... It was a distraction anyways. His pent up rage had been released for now and he was mildly satisfied and yet still somewhat distraught by the fact that his idiot brother was covering for him once again.

Why?

"Good one." Kara managed to give a small nod and then howled while holding his face, it did sting like hell but he played over it dramatically. "Owwww! Why- why would you do that bruaza?!" He shouted with a cry and pretended to look hurt though he was hurt both physically and emotionally. "That was my face!" He cried aloud. Ichimatsu rubbed his fist gingerly over the hoodie's bloody spot, hoping that their brothers bought it. "Gah, there's so much blood!"

"I knew he was going to sock him! Yeah, i won!" Osomatsu cheered while dancing in place like Jyushi but his smile soon fell and he stopped moving when he looked over at his brothers. He didn't place a bet with either one of them and got nothing, his facial expression sunk and his smile curved downward and he pocketed his money with a groan. "What a total loss." He kicked at the dirt at his heels and sighed with his head rolling back.

"Why in the hell did you want that?"

"Huh?" Karamatsu asked while blinking and cupping his sore nostrils. He then gave his younger brother a smirk. "Great plan is it not? And I don't normally plan things." He lightly laughed to himself while running the back of his hand across his face to wipe away some of the blood, he only managed to smear it but was unaware of the red smudge still on his face. He gave a thumbs up and winked with a pained toothy grin.

"I said why?" Ichi growled from repeating the question, if he wasn't in so much pain right now then he would be choking the idiot or kicking him in the gut. "I don't need or want your help."

"That's what you say, however." Karamatsu's smile grew some and closed his eyes briefly while putting his hands on his hips, enjoying the recognition for his plan. "You said that you didn't want them to know, the choice isn't mine; I only wanted you to tell them, that doesn't mean that I'll do if you don't want me to. Although, I am against you hiding it; the decision to keep hiding it falls on you brother as much as I want to protest. I've covered for you before, this time is no different because your my bruaza and I want to support you. Your secret is safe with me." His smirk then fell as did his bulletproof pose when Ichi pocketed his hands. "But please, I implore you to hang on and be extra careful, I don't want you to die and neither does Jyushi or any of our brothers. Please let me see to it that we find someone who can tend to this wound, you don't have to go through this world alone; you don't have to fade out because I'm not sure that I- or the rest of our brothers can let you go."

Ichimatsu quickly looked away in embarrassment, damn his brother was so painful. "I-I don't need it. I don't n-need help-p." He lightly stuttered. Why did it always have to be Karamatsu that wanted to help him? Why did he have to care so much when there's nothing worth caring for?

 

"Please, if anything. If you need any assiatnce at all then you can reliy on me, heh, your big bruaza!" He pointed his thumb back at himself with a large smile.

"If I try... then will you leave me the hell alone?" He asked while now turning to face his brother again. "As in don't talk to me unless I start the conversation. And you can't touch me either, or talk to the others about what happened here. I don't want nothing to do with you and I don't want them knowing about this." He pointed at his side.

It was a request, like an iron spike driven straight through his heart; to honor such a deal and suffer on his end as so? How would he even be able to ask how his brother is doing or if he needed help? It's a ridiculous request but so long as Ichimatsu strived to live; well that is what matters right? He couldn't bare the thought of losing even one of his twins, let alone do nothing for them while they suffer. He could talk to his brother about death wish later, hopefully after they've found someway to patch up the wound; maybe then the deal would be called off. To have more distance and be less supportive; it was against his inner caring nature, but living to see tomorrow is what they needed at the moment. Kara nodded with a sad smile. "Very well bruaza, but may I ask how long must this request go?"

"Until I say so."

Karamatsu gaped lightly with concern. "But then how will I know?"

"You won't until I say so."

"What if I need to ask you a question? Say, it be something serious?" He inquired.

Ichi growled. "Tap me on the shoulder but don't expect much talk. Tap me for something stupid and I'll poke out your eyes." He warned with a glare.

The elder brother feigned a grin despite the shudder of fear, Ichimatsu can be very intimidating at times and the dark aura really didn't help. "Fine then." He replied quietly. "But before it's official I need you to promise me that you will 'try' to live; otherwise the deals off and I tell for the sake of your life." Ichi gave him a simple nod after gnashing his teeth in annoyance. 

"Fine." He frowned deeply.

"Also, know that if you need any help at all to just ask; I don't mind sharing your burden."

His expression lightened. "And why would you want to do that?"

"It's what brothers are for right?" He innocently shrugged.

He noticed that Ichi shrank back some with a deep uneasy frown and a bead of sweat forming on his face, his face seemed less hostile and yet unreadable. Karamatsu reached out and patted his brother lightly on his back, he was half tempted to reach up and run his fingers through his little brother's messy hair and massage his scalp before the silent treatment began; Ichi always liked it no matter which brother did it. Ichimatsu narrowed his eyes some and pulled himself away before heading towards his other brothers, he certainty seemed uncomfortable.

"Your hoodie is over by the fire; it should be dry by now. ... Take care." He finished more quietly.

Kara felt his shoulders lower and he frowned, he was going to have to place his trust in Ichi and keep his distance no matter how much he was against the idea. He would have placed the blame on cruel fate if it hadn't been himself; the reason why he and Ichimatsu weren't as close as brothers should be. That didn't matter right now though, he was still going to watch over him, him and all of his brothers. His smile returned faintly. Someone had to be the unsung hero of the family right? Now with their home and parents gone, he was going to have to do better and be more weary of his brothers; take notice of any changes and keep them all close. If anyone looked hurt or acted out of the norm, he would be there and resolve the issue, no more cowering out or backing down; his brothers needed him and he didn't need to bring distrust and disappointment to any of his brothers anymore lest he looses another one's close bond.

"Ichimatsu, what happened?"

Ichimatsu ignored his older brother Choromatsu and slowly ambled over to the fire to pick up his sandals and hoodie; they were dry. He grabbed them and then walked over by the water's edge in the chasm.

"Hey are you deft?" 

Osomatsu placed a hand on Choro's shoulder. "Give him a little bit of space for now, he just got out of a heated argument so pissing him off more is probably not a good idea."

The third eldest sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you're probably right about that, but I do intent to talk to him later; at least after he cools down."  
"Hey you hang tight, I'm gonna go and see if Karamatsu is okay."

Choromatsu nodded at a grinning Osomatsu. The eldest of the brothers waltz over to Karamatsu and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"So how's your nose? You must have really pissed off Ichi."

Choromatsu looked away from the older two and back to the younger one, the one he worried most about, thankfully Jyushimatsu was already tailing Ichi. This was not the time to be fighting but at least the first and fifth brother were there to make things better maybe, it would be best if he didn't get too involved and reignite sparks so he walked back over to the fire and tossed some more sticks into the flames. He was missing a shoe, a little chilled, and frustrated; his mind wondered back to Totty. As crazy as it seemed; the tension in the air seemed heavier without the youngest Matsuno around, but even with him nothing would have changed this morning and the argument that took place. Still, his mind would be a little more at ease if Todomatsu was here.

"Ichimatsu-Niisan, you okay?" Jyushimatsu asked with the tilt of his head, a big smile still on his face; though it waivered some. Ichimatsu lowered himself by the pool of the water, Jyushimatsu followed behind and stood behind his older brother who sighed from his noticeable presence.

"I'll be fine." He replied lowly. "Just block their view." He asked knowing well that Jyushi was smart enough to know what he was talking about.

"Okay!" He said more happily and turned around before plopping to the ground with his back to Ichi's. "Ichimatsu-Niisan?"

"What?" His voice came out oddly calm despite the recent dispute. He peeled off the blue hoodie and lightly shivered from the cool atmosphere of the underground.

"Are you mad at Karamatsu-Niisan?"

"Tch, when am I not mad at him should be the question?" He replied a little more bitterly.

The fifth born brought a sleeve-covered hand to his closed mouth and thought to himself with large dilated cat-like eyes before blinking and smiling again with his usal happy face. "He just wants to help, me too! ..."

"Well thanks, but I don't need it."

"You're not 'always' mad at him."

Ichimatsu stiffened for a second before exhaling with annoyance, unlike the rest of the sextuplets; Jyushi could somehow almost always see right through him. He always knew how he felt, Jyushi was someone he could talk to and not have to hide things though he tried for reasons unbeknownst t himself. He was also understandable and loyal, though loud and sometimes obnoxious he was still someone he could talk to without judgmental opinions. He apparently thinks too much, more than the other brothers thought he did, his nativity made it easier. Now he wouldn't say that he was always mad at Karamatsu; he was at many times but nothing could piss him off more than his useless trashy self. The second eldest would annoy him most when he said stupid things that seemed supportive or even as a compliment, things that are too praiseworthy than shit like Ichimatsu himself. Karamatsu was teasing him unintentionally or not. He did it often so why not be mad at his older brother so often? The pretender? Mr. Attention? The 'I want to be recognized' guy? When will the idiot learn? He can try but he'll always fail because Karamatsu... no... Kusomatsu was trash too. Ichimatsu knows that he doesn't deserve the pats on the back, though that didn't stop him from wanting compliments; he just wanted to earn them despite being a shitty trash NEET. He didn't need pity handouts. "What do you know?" He asked while now carefully pulling his purple hoodie over his head and looking at the fabric as he rolled it down over him, it was clean-ish; more than it was yesterday and nice and warm from the fire.

"I know that you are hurt, not just in your side."

Ichimatsu grit his teeth and scowled though with his back turned no one could see him. He pulled off Jyushi's slippers and set them aside, once he did the brother in yellow reached over and raised one foot at a time before slipping them back on. Ichi felt pain because he knows what he is and what he deserves. He discovered this a while ago and pain from the past still haunts him today. Even if he infinitely cared less now, there would always be a bitter sting when he is reminded of that time back then; the shower of advice and betrayal that brought out the worst in him.

"You better not tell them that or about my side or I'll-" Ichimatsu tried to warn but the younger made a small chuckle and cut him off.

"I won't Niisan, Karamatsu-Niisan said not to. He said you'd get mad."

"Well I will." He said more loudly and aggressively than intended.

"He's trying to make it up to, even if he doesn't say it. You guys used to be close; sort of like Choromatsu-Niisan and Osomatsu-Niisan are." He said with his eyes trailing to the top of the ravine, his eyes lingered on the sky and he let his splayed legs swing back and forth in his wonderings; his feet collided together lightly each time. "They argue a lot and disagree allllllll of the time now, but they still like being around each other and giving support because they did many years ago." He blinked and laughed aloud some. "I get to be Todomatsu's Niisan! He's my only younger brother. Karamatsu-Niisan is trying to be a good Niisan to you!"

Ichimatsu sneered and narrowed his eyes. "I don't care, I don't want to think about it anymore." He seethed quietly. He already knew since Kusomatsu had covered for him twice; both times getting the short end of the stick like some nameless innocent soldier being branded traitor for someone else who did the betraying. Then there's well... everything else he normally does to be a good brother, even if it's not really for attention but out of genuine thoughtfulness. 

All to look like he is someone worth looking up to, or worth a damn.

What a lie.

"But it's not only that."

Ichimatsu lost his scowl and blinked as he coiled his hands around the blue hoodie that has been dabbled in blotches of blood. 

"He's good. He watches out for us, he's trying his best to be a good Niisan; because he really is."

Of course he does, that's why the rambling dramatic idiot tried to talk him out of letting himself die; those words and tears, even the iron grip were believable. What would he think if he saw him trying to commit suicide by jabbing the sharp branch inward? Would he try to stop him? 

Undoubtedly.

Ichimatsu pressed the blood-soaked spot on the hoodie into the water before kneading his fingers over the fabric thoroughly, red encircled his submerged hands.  
He proved it, not only with him but Choromatsu, and the rest of the brothers; all these years. Ichimatsu couldn't deny it though he wanted to believe that it's all for attention, it's what he always thought of the older. It's already clear that Karamatsu hides behind a façade of joy and optimism, acting like he's un-bendable steel; but Ichimatsu knows the truth and maybe Jyushi too. He tries to be the impenetrable fortress, the good brother though he takes so much negative comments and is abused both mentally and physically all of the time. So weak to hide under a false smile.

He wondered what would happen if Karamatsu was ever pushed too far? Would he try and kill himself? Or let himself die?

That he did not know. Ichi pulled up the hoodie from the water, the spot was nearly gone but still held a dark tint to it. Oh well.

Karamatsu did care about him for real it seemed, still; he's a shitty brother though.

"Totty?!"

The sudden shout of the youngest brother's name snapped Ichimatsu from his thoughts and he turned his head back some to see Jyushi looking straight up at the top of the chasm, the younger brother waved an arm in the air.

His shout had all of the brothers now looking up to see a shadowed form standing high above and looking down, It was difficult to make out any details of the individual, they were too far up to see.

Osomatsu walked towards the center of the ravine's floor and placed a hand over his eyes and squinted. "Is that Todomatsu?"

Choromatsu immediately got up onto his feet and started to wave his arms. "Hey! Who's up there?!" He shouted. "Down here, hey!" He cried while keeping his eyes fixed on the shape of what looks like their brother.

"Todomatsu, is that you?!" Karamatsu brought his hands up to his mouth to shout out.

The human figure looked on at them for a long minute before retreating away from the edge.

Osomatsu blinked. "Hey, I thinks he's gone to get help guys. We'll be out of here in no time at all!"

"How can you assume that the person up there is even Totty?" Choro asked rather calmly.

"Well Jyushi said it was Totty."

"Totty!" Jyushi repeated with a large smile and wave of arms.

"See."

"Fine, let's try this." The third eldest turned towards Jyushimatsu. "Jyushi, was that Totty or not?"

"Hahahahaha, I don't know." He replied with a light chuckle and innocent tone of voice.

"See!"

"Totty!"

"We'll see then. It has to be, he's the only other guy that I know that was with us when we ran into the woods; he was also with us when the explosions happened. I mean... who else could it possibly be all the way out here?" Osomatsu nodded with his hands on his hips, his smile reassuring. "If it's really our little Totty then he'll be back soon and probably with a little help. I say let's wait on him."

"Totty!"

Choromatsu sighed and rubbed his temple with a deep frown. "Okay, we'll wait; but we do need to get out of here soon or find a way to try to. I'm sure we're all hungry and in desperate need of fresh air." The brothers knew whom he referred to, his brothers who were in the argument; Karamatsu frowned while Ichimatsu looked away and huffed.

"You okay Ichi?" Oso prodded without caution. "Still upset from the fight are you?"

"The problems been resolved." Ichimatsu faced the water again and with barely any effort swayed his hand back and forth lazily to show that he was perfectly fine.

Although the word 'perfect' would be stretching it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love Jyushi :3
> 
> By the way, does anyone else notice that Karamatsu and Ichimatsu are next to each other so often in the anime?


End file.
